Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading notably higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 60,900 level, with gains in financial and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in automaker stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 445.78 or 0.74 percent at 60,905.36, after touching a high of 60,963.03 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is tumbling almost 4 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 4 percent and Toyota is down almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is advancing almost 3 percent, while Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are gaining more than 2 percent each.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are adding almost 2 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is gaining more than 2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 1 percent, Sony is edging up 0.3 percent and Panasonic is adding more than 1 percent. Canon is flat.

Among other major gainers, Nichirei is soaring almost 8 percent and Sumitomo Realty & Development is jumping almost 7 percent, Toray Industries and Kokusai Electric are surging more than 6 percent each. Fukuoka Financial and Taiyo Yuden are rising almost 5 percent each, while NEXON, Furukawa Electric and Socionext are advancing more than 4 percent each. Shiseido, NEC and Yokohama Financial are gaining more than 3 percent each, while Renesas Electronics, Japan Steel Works and Lasertec are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Mitsui Kinzoku is plunging more than 8 percent and Tokyu is tumbling more than 6 percent, while Sumitomo Metal Mining, Omron and DeNA are slipping almost 6 percent each. Subaru is declining almost 5 percent, Sharp is sliding more than 4 percent. Suzuki Motor is losing almost 4 percent, BayCurrent is declining more than 3 percent and Konami Group is down almost 3 percent.

In economic news, the Reuters Tankan index for Japanese manufacturers rose for the fourth consecutive month to +27 in November 2026, from +22 in the previous month, marking its highest reading since August 2021. Meanwhile, non-manufacturers' sentiment increased to +35, the highest since June 2018, from +23, which was the lowest reading since November 2024

Looking three months ahead, manufacturers expect sentiment to improve to +28, while non-manufacturers expect sentiment to weaken to +29.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 158 yen-range on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stock moved mostly lower during trading on Tuesday giving back ground following the substantial rally seen to start the week. The major averages all moved to the downside, although selling pressure appeared relatively subdued.

The major averages ended the day well off their worst levels but still in negative territory. The Nasdaq slid 187.26 points or 0.7 percent to 25,065.87, the S&P 500 fell 29.01 points or 0.4 percent to 7,520.93 and the Dow dipped 157.86 points or 0.3 percent to 52,231.89. Meanwhile, the major European markets turned mixed over the course of the session. While the French CAC 40 Index fell 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices turned lower on Tuesday as concerns of U.S.-Iran re-escalation faded after U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to maintain a status quo in the U.S.-Iran crisis. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $0.97 or 1.12 percent at $85.88 per barrel.