Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 breaking above the 27,000 mark, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, as traders continued to pick up battered stocks at a bargain following a brutal September.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 79.01 points or 0.29 percent at 27,071.22, after touching a high of 27,216.80 earlier. Japanese stocks closed sharply higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent, while Toyota is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is losing almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.4 percent, while Advantest is edging up 0.4 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent, while and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony is edging down 0.1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.2 percent, Panasonic is gaining almost 2 percent and Canon is adding almost 1 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Toray Industries, Olympus and Murata Manufacturing are losing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no major losers.

In economic news, the services sector in Japan climbed into expansion territory in September, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 52.2. That's up from 49.5 in August, and it moves above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the composite index improved to 51.0 from 49.4 in August.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 144 yen-range on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks climbed higher on Tuesday, rising sharply for a second straight session, amid hopes the Federal Reserve will slow down its aggression with regard to interest rate hikes after data showed a drop in job openings in the country.

The major averages all closed sharply higher. The Dow ended stronger by 825.43 points or 2.8 percent at 30,316.32. The S&P 500 climbed 112.50 points or 3.06 percent to settle at 3,790.93, and the Nasdaq surged to 11,176.41, gaining 360.97 points or 3.34 percent.

The major European markets all also ended with strong gains. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 surged 2.57 percent, Germany's DAX rallied 3.78 percent, and France's CAC 40 gained 4.24 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session as traders continued to bet on hopes the OPEC will agree to a large cut in crude output later today. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November settled at $86.52 a barrel, up $2.89 or 3.5 percent.