Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is notably higher on Thursday, snapping a four-session losing streak, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 44,800 level, with gains in index heavyweights and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in automakers, exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 257.80 points or 0.58 percent to 44,808.65, after touching a high of 45,125.96 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is surging almost 5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing more than 1 percent and Honda is declining almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 3 percent, Screen Holdings is advancing more than 4 percent and Tokyo Electron is surging almost 5 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is losing almost 1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining more than 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is down almost 1 percent, Panasonic is declining more than 1 percent, Sony is losing more than 2 percent and Canon is slipping almost 2 percent.

Among other major gainers, Disco is jumping almost 7 percent, Daiichi Sankyo is soaring more than 6 percent, Sumco is surging almost 5 percent and Resonac Holdings is gaining more than 4 percent, while Mitsui Mining & Smelting, Nikon and Sumitomo Metal Mining are advancing almost 4 percent each. Mitsubishi Materials is adding more than 3 percent, while Lasertec and Yaskawa Electric are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Tokyo Electric Power is tumbling almost 7 percent, while M3 and Mazda Motor are losing almost 4 percent each. Konami Group and Shionogi & Co. are down more than 3 percent each, while Keisei Electric Railway, Asahi Group, Hino Motors, Terumo, East Japan Railway, BANDAI NAMCO, Kansai Electric Power and Marui Group are declining almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 147 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks came under pressure early in the session on Wednesday but staged a significant turnaround over the course of the trading day. The major averages climbed well off their lows of the session and into positive territory.

The major averages gave back some ground going into the end the day still finished higher. The Nasdaq climbed 95.15 points or 0.4 percent to 22,755.16, the S&P 500 rose 22.74 points or 0.3 percent to 6,711.20 and the Dow inched up 43.21 points or 0.1 percent to 46,441.10.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both jumped by 1.0 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply again Wednesday on concerns of excess supply after OPEC said it will hike output more than expected in November. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down by $0.60 or 0.96 percent at $61.77 per barrel.