Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, with the Nikkei 225 moving a tad above the 27,300 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, aided by the recovery in financial and technology stocks after the two-day rout in the sectors amid the collapse of US lender Silicon Valley Bank over the weekend.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 78.72 or 0.29 percent at 27,300.76, after touching a high of 27,424.94 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down 1.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.5 percent, while Toyota is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is gaining more than 2 percent, Advantest is adding almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is up almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining 2.5 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is surging more than 4 percent and Mizuho Financial is adding more than 2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon and Panasonic are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is adding almost 1 percent. Sony is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Kobe Steel, Resona Holdings and Tokio Marine Holdings are gaining almost 5 percent each, while Aozora Bank, Fukuoka Financial, Konica Minolta, MS&AD Insurance and Chiba Bank are adding almost 4 percent each. T&D Holdings, Dai-ichi Life, Sekisui House, Sompo Holdings and Japan Post Holdings are advancing more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Keio is losing almost 3 percent.

In economic news, members of the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Board said that the country's economy is still being hampered by high commodity prices, but overall still shows signs of steady improvement, minutes from the central bank's January 17-18 meeting revealed on Wednesday.

At the meeting, the BoJ kept its interest rates unchanged at -0.1 percent and modified some of its lending programs. The bank will also continue to purchase a necessary amount of JGBs without setting an upper limit so that 10-year JGB yields will remain at around zero percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 134 yen-range on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks rallied on Tuesday, bouncing back from recent losses, thanks to hectic bargain hunting, particularly in the banking sector. The assurance from the regulators that there won't be a relapse of the financial crisis from 15 years ago helped lift sentiment.

The major averages all ended on the positive side. The Dow ended with a gain of 336.26 points or 1.06 percent at 32,155.40, snapping a five-day losing streak. The S&P 500 climbed 64.80 points or 1.68 percent at 3,920.56, while the Nasdaq settled at 11,428.15, gaining 239.31 points or 2.14 percent.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced 1.06 percent, Germany's DAX surged 1.75 percent, and France's CAC 40 climbed 1.82 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply to a nine-week low on Tuesday amid concerns a fresh financial crisis following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank could significantly hurt demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April sank $3.47 or 4.7 percent at $71.33 a barrel.