Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - Recouping some of the losses in the previous three sessions, the Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Friday, despite the negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 38,100 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights and exporter stocks. Technology stocks were the only weak spot.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 104.96 points or 0.28 percent to 38,159.09, after touching a high of 38,333.77 earlier. Japanese stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding 1.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 1 percent and Toyota is also adding more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 1 percent, Tokyo Electron is declining more than 2 percent and Screen Holdings is down more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining more than 1 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is advancing more than 2 percent and Mizuho Financial is adding more than 1 percent.

Among major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 1 percent, Canon is adding more than 1 percent, Panasonic is advancing almost 3 percent and Sony is up almost 2 percent.

Among other major gainers, Sumitomo Pharma and Yamato Holdings are rising more than 4 percent each, while Daiwa Securities Group is gaining almost 4 percent. NEXON, GS Yuasa, Mitsubishi Estate and Fukuoka Financial are adding more than 3 percent each. Chubu Electric Power, Japan Exchange Group, IHI, Mitsui Fudosan, ENEOS Holdings, Konica Minolta and Keisei Electric Railway are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In economic news, industrial output in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent on month in April, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Friday. That was well shy of expectations for an increase of 1.5 percent following the 4.4 percent gain in March. On a yearly basis, industrial production sank 1.0 percent. According to the METI's forecast of industrial production, output is seen 6.9 percent higher in May and 5.6 percent lower in June.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Communications and Internal Affairs said that the unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent in April. That was in line with expectations and unchanged from the March reading. The jobs-to-applicant ratio was 1.26, shy of forecasts for 1.28 - which would have been unchanged. The participation rate was 63.1, topping forecasts for 63.0 and up from 62.8 in the previous month.

Also, overall consumer prices in the Tokyo region of Japan were up 2.2 percent on year in May - accelerating from 1.8 percent in April. Core CPI was up an annual 1.9 percent, rising from 1.6 percent in the previous month.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 156 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw further downside during trading on Thursday after ending Wednesday's session mostly lower. The major averages all finished the day firmly in negative territory, with the Dow once again falling to its lowest closing level in almost a month.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 fell to new lows for the session late in the day but regained some ground going into the close. The Dow slid 330.06 points or 0.9 percent to 38,11.48, the Nasdaq slumped 183.50 points or 1.1 percent to 16,737.08 and the S&P 500 fell 31.47 points or 0.6 percent to 5,235.48.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index crept up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both climbed by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices ended sharply lower on Thursday as a jump in gasoline inventories weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down by $1.32 or 1.7 percent at $77.91 a barrel.