Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is notably higher on Wednesday, snapping a four-session losing streak, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 32,700 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with gains in exporters, technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 203.33 or 0.62 percent at 32,741.66, after touching a high of 32,885.26 earlier. Japanese stocks ended notably lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 1 percent and Toyota is adding almost 2 percent.

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

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

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

Among other major gainers, Nippon Sheet Glass is surging more than 8 percent and Nippon Telegraph & Telephone is gaining almost 4 percent, while Nomura Holdings and Yamaha Motor are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is losing 5.5 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 143 yen-range on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, regaining ground following recent weakness. The major averages all moved to the upside on the day, with the Dow snapping a six-session losing streak.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but held on to strong gains. The Nasdaq surged 219.89 points or 1.7 percent to 13,555.67, the S&P 500 jumped 49.59 points or 1.2 percent to 4,378.41 and the Dow climbed 212.03 points or 0.6 percent to 33,926.74.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index inched up by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday amid concerns about the outlook for fuel demand due to economic slowdown, and rising prospects of more interest rate hikes. Reports indicating possible excess supply in the market weighed as well on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended lower by $1.67 or 2.4 percent at $67.70 a barrel.