Japanese Market Sharply Higher; Up 2%

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is sharply higher on Wednesday, adding to the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight. The Nikkei 225 is surging above the 38,300 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 786.40 or 2.09 percent at 38,338.56, after touching a high of 38,351.44 earlier. Japanese stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 1 percent and Toyota is advancing more than 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are gaining almost 4 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is surging more than 6 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are edging up 0.4 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony is gaining almost 3 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is advancing more than 2 percent and Panasonic is adding more than 1 percent, while Canon is losing almost 1 percent.

Among other major gainers, Nikon is soaring 10.5 percent and Renesas Electronics is surging more than 9 percent, while Disco and Hoya are advancing more than 5 percent each. LY is gaining more than 4 percent, while Yaskawa Electric, Minebea Mitsumi, Sekisui House and NTT Data are adding almost 4 percent each. Ebara, Rakuten Group, Shin-Etsu Chemical, Mercari and Hitachi are up more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Resonac Holdings is plunging more than 7 percent, Nidec is losing more than 4 percent and Sumitomo Metal Mining is declining almost 3 percent.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 2.3 percent on year in March, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday. That exceeded expectations for an increase of 2.1 percent and was up from the upwardly revised 2.2 percent gain in February (originally 2.1 percent). On a monthly basis, producer prices climbed 0.8 percent - accelerating from 0.3 percent in the previous month.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 154 yen-range on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks ended on a firm note on Tuesday, extending gains from previous session, with technology shares once again outperforming others, amid optimism about earnings. A batch of encouraging earnings updates, and slightly easing concerns about the outlook for interest rates helped underpin sentiment.

The major averages all ended notably higher. The Dow settled with a gain of 263.71 points or 0.69 percent at 38,503.69. The S&P 500 climbed 59.95 points or 1.2 percent to 5,070.55, while the Nasdaq gained 245.33 points or 1.59 percent to settle at 15,696.64.

The major European markets also closed higher on the day. While the German DAX Index surged 1.55 percent, France's CAC 40 gained 0.81 percent, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended higher by 0.26 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Tuesday after data showed a slowdown in U.S. manufacturing activity in April, raising hopes the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates soon. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June rose $1.46 or 1.78 percent at $83.36 a barrel.