Japanese Market Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is trading sharply higher on Thursday, reversing the losses in the two previous sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 71,050 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks amid renewed optimism around the artificial intelligence sector.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 1,902.38 points or 2.75 percent to 71,077.35, after touching a high of 71,219.00 earlier. Japanese stocks ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining almost 1 percent and Honda is adding more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is soaring more than 9 percent, Screen Holdings is surging almost 7 percent and Tokyo Electron is jumping more than 6 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.5 percent, Mizuho Financial is adding almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.4 percent and Sony is losing almost 1 percent, while Panasonic and Canon are gaining more than 1 percent each.

Among other major gainers, Taiyo Yuden is soaring almost 9 percent and Kioxia Holdings is jumping almost 8 percent, while Disco and Murata Manufacturing are surging more than 6 percent each. Ajinomoto is advancing almost 6 percent and Minebea Mitsumi is gaining more than 5 percent, while Resonac Holdings, J. Front Retailing and Seiko Epson are adding more than 4 percent each. Toppan Holdings, Konica Minolta and Sapporo Holdings are up almost 4 percent each.

Conversely, Sharp is tumbling almost 7 percent, while MS&AD Insurance and Japan Steel Works are slipping almost 4 percent each. Inpex is losing more than 3 percent, while Sumitomo Metal Mining and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are declining almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 161 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks were unable to hold onto early gains on Wednesday, slumping in the second half of the day to finish mixed. Profit taking was largely responsible for the late fade, although investors remain spooked about the possibility of an interest rate hike following recent uncooperative inflation data.

The Dow climbed 182.06 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 51,848.90, while the NASDAQ slumped 110.40 points or 0.43 percent to close at 25,476.63 and the S&P 500 slipped 7.24 points or 0.10 percent to end at 7,358.22.

The major European markets also turned in a mixed performance on the day. The UK's FTSE 100 climbed 0.31 percent and Germany's DAX moved up 0.54 percent, while France's CAC 40 slipped 0.62 percent.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Wednesday as shipping traffic picks up across the Strait of Hormuz after its reopening following last week's U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding. WTI Crude Oil for August month delivery was last seen trading down by $2.87 or 3.92 percent at $70.34 per barrel.