Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading notably higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 38,000 mark, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 295.89 or 0.78 percent at 38,020.00, after touching a high of 38,178.73 earlier. Japanese stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 1 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 2 percent, Tokyo Electron is adding more than 1 percent and Screen Holdings is edging up 0.5 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.4 percent and Mizuho Financial is advancing almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.1 percent.

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

Among other major gainers, IHI is gaining almost 4 percent and Alps Alpine is advancing almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Sumitomo Metal Mining is declining more than 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 144 yen-range on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks saw further upside over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after moving sharply higher early in the session. With the strong upward move, the major averages largely offset the steep losses posted last week.

The Nasdaq shot up 461.96 points or 2.5 percent to 19,199.16, the S&P 500 surged 118.72 points or 2.1 percent to 5,921.54 and the Dow jumped 740.58 points or 1.8 percent to 42,343.65.

The major European markets also moved mostly higher on the day. The German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.7 percent, although the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices slumped on Tuesday on continuing concerns that OPEC may boost output at its meeting later today. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery dropped 0.65 or 1 percent to $64.09 per barrel.