Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - Reversing the slight losses in the previous session, the Japanese market is notably higher on Friday, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 36,900 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights, exporters and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 167.27 points or 0.45 percent to 36,957.30, after touching a high of 36,964.47 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly lower on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is flat. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining almost 2 percent and Honda is also adding almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 4 percent, while Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

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

Among the major exporters, Sony is gaining almost 1 percent, Canon is advancing more than 3 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.5 percent, while Panasonic is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among other major gainers, Fujikura is gaining more than 3 percent, while Hitachi Construction Machinery, Tokyo Electric Power and Furukawa Electric are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Recruit Holdings is losing more than 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 148 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Thursday, more than offsetting the gains posted during Wednesday's session. The major averages tumbled to six-month closing lows, with the S&P 500 entering correction territory more than 10 percent below February's record highs.

The major averages ended the day off their worst levels but still firmly negative. The Nasdaq plunged 345.44 points or 2.0 percent to 17,303.01, the S&P 500 slumped 77.78 points or 1.4 percent to 5,521.52 and the Dow dove 537.36 points or 1.3 percent to 40,813.57.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. The French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index declined by 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just above the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices fell on Thursday amid prospects of excess supply in the market, and on concerns about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended lower by $1.13 or 1.7 percent at $66.55 a barrel.