Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is trading modestly higher on Thursday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 38,200 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 108.87 points or 0.29 percent to 38,251.24, after touching a high of 38,369.96 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower 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 almost 2 percent, while Honda is edging down 0.1 percent.

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

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 2 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.2 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Panasonic is losing almost 1 percent, while Sony and Canon are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each. Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among other major gainers, Fujikura is surging almost 7 percent, while Itochu and Socionext are gaining almost 5 percent each. Sumitomo Electric Industries and Sompo Holdings are advancing almost 4 percent each, while Ebara, Kuraray and Nissan Motor are adding more than 3 percent each. Subaru, Kanadevia, Hino Motors and Resonac Holdings are gaining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Seven & I Holdings is plunging almost 10 percent, M3 is losing more than 4 percent and Tokyo Electric Power is declining almost 4 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 149 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside early in the session on Wednesday but gave back ground over the course of the trading day. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session, although the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 managed to close in positive territory.

After surging by as much as 1.3 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day up 48.88 points or 0.3 percent to 19,075.26. The S&P 500 eked out a more modest gain, inching up 0.81 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 5,956.06, while the narrower Dow bucked the uptrend and slid 188.04 points or 0.4 percent to 43,433.12.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index shot up by 1.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index surged by 1.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for demand as the Trump administration's tariff policies are expected to slow global economic growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April settled lower by $0.31 at $68.62 a barrel.