Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is notably higher on Thursday, extending the sharp gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 54,050 level, with gains in index heavyweights, automakers and exporter stocks partially offset by weakness in financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 316.28 points or 0.59 percent to 54,065.90, after touching a high of 54,175.80 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is surging more than 6 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is flat. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining more than 1 percent and Honda is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 1 percent, while Screen Holdings is edging up 0.4 percent and Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging down 0.1 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are edging up 0.1 percent each, while Panasonic are gaining almost 3 percent. Canon is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among other major gainers, Furukawa Electric is jumping more than 8 percent, Socionext is soaring more than 7 percent and Fujikura is surging almost 6 percent, while Lasertec, Kikkoman, Inpex and Sumco are advancing more than 4 percent each. Sumitomo Chemical is gaining almost 4 percent, while Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Daikin Industries, Sumitomo Pharma and Kubota are adding more than 3 percent. Kawasaki Heavy Industries is up almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Ricoh is losing almost 5 percent and Daiichi Sankyo is declining almost 4 percent.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 2.7 percent on year in February, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday - following two straight months at 2.6 percent. On a monthly basis, producer prices were up 0.2 percent after sinking 0.5 percent in January. Prices excluding international transportation were likewise up 0.2 percent on month and 2.7 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 159 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside in early trading on Wednesday after ending Tuesday's choppy session mostly lower. The major averages gave back ground over the course of the trading day but managed to remain in positive territory.

The Nasdaq advanced 167.93 points or 0.8 percent to 21,929.83, the Dow climbed 305.43 points or 0.7 percent to 46,429.49 and the S&P 500 rose 35.53 points or 0.5 percent to 6,591.90.

The major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index shot up by 1.3 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both leapt by 1.4 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped Wednesday on reports of negotiations to end the war between the U.S. and Iran, easing transport concerns via the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was down $2.22 or 2.40 percent at $90.13 per barrel.