Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is trading modestly higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous session, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 64,000 mark, with gains in index heavyweights, automakers, exporters and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 109.61 points or 0.17 percent to 64,032.61, after touching a high of 64,643.58 earlier. Japanese stocks ended notably higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota and Honda are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing more than 1 percent, Screen Holdings is declining almost 4 percent and Tokyo Electron is slipping more than 2 percent.

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

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 1 percent, Canon is adding more than 1 percent and Sony is edging up 0.5 percent, while Panasonic is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among other major gainers, Japan Steel Works is surging almost 6 percent and Sumitomo Pharma is gaining almost 5 percent, while SHIFT and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are advancing almost 4 percent each. Otsuka Holdings, Nintendo, Chugai Pharmaceutical, Konami Group, Yokohama Rubber, BayCurrent and Nippon Express are adding more than 3 percent each, while Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Itochu and Ajinomoto are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Sumitomo Metal Mining is declining almost 4 percent, while Inpex and Mitsui Kinzoku are losing almost 3 percent each.

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

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a strong performance throughout much of the trading day on Wednesday but came under pressure in the latter part of the session. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session and into negative territory.

The Dow led the way lower, slumping 631.21 points or 1.2 percent to a three-month closing low of 51,461.90. The S&P 500 fell 33.92 points or 0.5 percent to 7,551.81, its lowest closing level in well over a month, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq posted a more modest loss, edging down 3.15 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 25,978.42.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index increased by 0.5 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Wednesday following the interest rate decision from the Fed. In addition, reports of Saudi Arabia loading crude cargoes via Oman lowered supply-related concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $3.61 or 3.41 percent at $102.22 per barrel.