Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - Extending the gains in the previous session, the Japanese market is notably higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 45,700 level, with gains across most sectors led by automakers, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 403.76 points or 0.89 percent to 45,707.19, after touching a high of 45,852.75 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Thursday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining 2.5 percent , Tokyo Electron is advancing almost 2 percent and Screen Holdings is surging almost 5 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining 1.5 percent and Mizuho Financial is adding more than 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony and Panasonic are edging down 0.5 percent each, while Canon is gaining almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is advancing almost 2 percent.

Among other major gainers, Lasertec is soaring more than 11 perent and Kawasaki Heavy Industries is surging more than 5 percent, while IHI, Japan Steel Works and Tokyo Electric Power are gaining more than 4 percent each. Nikon is advancing almost 4 percent, while Mitsubishi and Chugai Pharmaceutical are adding more than 3 percent. NEC and Renesas Electronics are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Resonac Holdings, Sumco and SMC are losing almost 3 percent each.

In other news, overall consumer prices in Japan were up 2.7 percent on year in August, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday. That was in line with expectations and down from 3.1 percent in July. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, inflation was up 0.1 percent for the second straight month.

Core CPI, which excludes the volatile costs of food, also rose an annual 2.7 percent - again matching forecasts and slowing from 3.1 percent in the previous month. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, core CPI was up 0.2 percent for the second consecutive month.

The Bank of Japan will also wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Friday and then announce its decision on interest rates. The BoJ is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 0.50 percent.

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

On Wall Street, stocks continued to turn in a strong performance throughout the day on Thursday after moving mostly higher early in the session. The major averages all moved to the upside after ending yesterday's trading mixed, reaching new record closing highs.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way higher, jumping 209.40 points or 0.9 percent to 22,470.73. The S&P 500 also climbed 31.61 points or 0.5 percent to 6,631.96, while the Dow rose 124.10 points or 0.3 percent to 46,142.42.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index surged by 1.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index posted a more modest gain, edging up 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted at a slowdown by the American economy. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.46 or 0.72 percent at $63.59 per barrel.