Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - Reversing the losses in the previous two sessions, the Japanese stock market is notably higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark Nikkei 225 is moving above the 38,300 level, with gains across most sectors led by in index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 290.26 points or 0.76 percent to 38,316.43, after touching a high of 38,352.73 earlier. Japanese stocks closed significantly lower on Thursday.

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

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

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining more than 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding almost 2 percent, while Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.4 percent.

Among major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Canon is gaining more than 1 percent and Panasonic is adding almost 1 percent.

Among other major gainers, Mitsui Chemicals and Yokogawa Electric are surging more than 5 percent each, while Credit Saison, Taiheiyo Cement, Obayashi and NTT Data are advancing more than 3 percent each. ENEOS Holdings and Recruit Holdings are gaining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, DeNA is losing almost 5 percent.

In economic news, overall consumer prices in Japan were up 2.3 percent on year in October, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday. That was in line with expectations and down from 2.5 percent in September.

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, overall inflation was up 0.4 percent - exceeding forecasts for 0.2 percent following the 0.3 percent decline in the previous month. Core CPI, which excludes the volatile prices of foods, rose 2.3 percent on year - above forecasts for 2.2 percent but down from 2.3 percent a month earlier.

The latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed that the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to contract in November, and at a faster pace, with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.0. That's down from 49.2 in October, although it moves further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the services PMI improved to 50.2 from 49.7 in the previous month. The composite PMI rose to 49.8 in November from 49.6 on October.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 154 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw considerable volatility early in the session on Thursday but moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day. The major averages all finished the day in positive territory, with the Dow posting a standout gain.

The Dow jumped 461.88 points or 1.1 percent to 43,870.35 and the S&P 500 climbed 31.60 points or 0.5 percent to 5,948.71, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq posted a much more modest gain, inching up 6.28 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 18,972.42.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday on weak demand concerns and data showing an increase in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December slipped $0.52 or 0.75 percent at $68.87 a barrel.