Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is trading notably higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 39,000 mark, with gains in some index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 206.75 points or 0.53 percent to 39,038.23, after touching a high of 39,190.13 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining more than 1 percent, while Honda is losing more than 3 percent after Nissan's board struck down the $58 billion merger deal.

In the tech space, Advantest is advancing almost 3 percent and Tokyo Electron is gaining almost 1 percent, while Screen Holdings is down almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is edging up 0.3 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is down almost 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.4 percent.

Among the major exporters, Panasonic is gaining more than 2 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is adding almost 1 percent, while Sony and Canon are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each.

Among other major gainers, Renesas Electronics is skyrocketing almost 14 percent, Nippon Electric Glass is soaring more than 9 percent, Nomura Holdings is surging more than 7 percent, Marubeni is gaining almost 6 percent and Yamaha is advancing more than 5 percent, while BANDAI NAMCO and Chugai Pharmaceutical are adding almost 5 percent each. Shionogi & Co. and Japan Steel Works are up almost 4 percent each, while Minebea Mitsumi is rising more than 3 percent. Murata Manufacturing, NEC and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are gaining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Kanadevia is declining almost 8 percent and KDDI is sliding almost 6 percent, while Kikkoman and Sumitomo Pharma are slipping more than 5 percent each. Daikin Industries, Nissan Motor and Fukuoka Financial Group are down almost 4 percent each, while Sumitomo Electric Industries is losing more than 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 152 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks came under pressure early in the session on Wednesday but showed a significant rebound over the course of the trading day. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day and into positive territory.

The major averages reached new highs for the session going into the close of trading. The Dow advanced 317.24 points or 0.7 percent to 44,873.28, the S&P 500 climbed 23.60 points or 0.4 percent to 6,061.48 and the Nasdaq rose 38.31 points or 0.2 percent to 19,692.33.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index rose by 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices settled sharply lower Wednesday after data showed a sharp jump in U.S. crude inventories last week. Concerns about the outlook for oil demand also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled at $71.03 a barrel, losing $1.67 or 2.29 percent.