Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is trading modestly higher on Friday, reversing some of the losses in the previous session, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving up to near the 59,350 level, with gains in index heavyweights and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in automakers, exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 208.04 points or 0.35 percent to 59,348.27, after touching a high of 59,687.00 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing almost 2 percent and Honda is edging down 0.5 percent.

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

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony is losing more than 1 percent, Canon is tumbling almost 7 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.1 percent and Panasonic is declining almost 2 percent.

Among other major gainers, Ibiden is soaring almost 11 percent and NEC is surging more than 6 percent, while Ajinomoto, Denka, Lasertec, Mitsui Kinzoku and Taiyo Yuden are gaining more than 4 percent each. Resonac Holdings is adding almost 4 percent, while TDK, Mitsubishi, Murata Manufacturing, Fujikura, OKUMA and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Daiichi Sankyo is tumbling more than 9 percent, Konica Minolta is slipping more than 8 percent, Renesas Electronics is sliding more than 7 percent, while ARCHION and Sharp are declining more than 4 percent each. Ricoh and Nintendo are losing more than 3 percent each, while Oriental Land, Mazda Motor, FUJIFILM, JTEKT, Recruit Holdings and Konami Group are down almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 159 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Thursday following the rally seen during Wednesday's session. The major averages all moved to the downside, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 pulling back off record closing highs.

The major averages regained ground after an early afternoon nosedive but remained firmly negative. The Nasdaq slid 219.06 points or 0.9 percent to 24,438.50, the S&P 500 declined 29.50 points or 0.4 percent to 7,108.40 and the Dow fell 179.71 points or 0.4 percent to 49,310.32.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both dipped by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices surged on Thursday as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, keeping oil supply concerns elevated. West Texas Intermediate crude for June was up $2.49 or 2.68 percent at $95.45 per barrel.