Japanese Market Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - Extending the gains in the previous two sessions, the Japanese market is sharply higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is surging to stay just below the 35,600 level, with gains across all sectors led by index heavyweights, exporters and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 550.18 points or 1.57 percent to 35,589.33, after touching a high of 35,654.24 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably higher on Thursday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining 3.5 percent, Tokyo Electron is adding almost 3 percent and Screen Holdings is advancing more than 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining more than 1 percent, Mizuho Financial is advancing almost 2 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony is gaining more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is adding almost 4 percent, Panasonic is rising more than 2 percent and Canon is advancing 3.5 percent.

Among other major gainers, Nidec is soaring almost 10 percent, Fujikura is climbing more than 8 percent and Renesas Electronics is surging more than 7 percent, while Fujitsu and Furukawa Electric are rising more than 5 percent each. Konica Minolta is advancing almost 5 percent, while Taiyo Yuden and Socionext are gaining more than 4 percent each. Hitachi, Sumco, SMC, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Murata Manufacturing and Lasertec are adding almost 4 percent each.

Conversely, Toho and Hino are losing almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 143 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Thursday adding to the strong gains posted in the two previous sessions. The Nasdaq showed a particularly strong move to the upside, reflecting strength among tech stocks.

The major averages ended the session just off their best levels of the day. The Nasdaq spiked 457.99 points or 2.7 percent to 17,166.04, the S&P 500 surged 108.91 points 2.0 percent at 5,484.77 and the Dow jumped 486.83 points or 1.2 percent to 40,093.40.

The major European markets also moved to the upside over the course of the session. While the German DAX Index climbed by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index increased by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices showed a modest move back to the upside on Thursday following the steep drop in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery rose $0.16 or 0.3 percent to $62.43 a barrel after plunging $1.40 or 2.2 percent to $62.27 a barrel a day earlier.