Japanese Market Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is sharply higher on Monday, reversing the losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 69,800 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 1,518.60 points or 2.22 percent at 69,828.06, after touching a high of 69,929.70 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is advancing almost 4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is advancing almost 3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.1 percent, while Toyota is gaining more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is surging almost 5 percent, Tokyo Electron is jumping more than 5 percent and Screen Holdings is gaining more than 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.5 percent, Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 2 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding more than 1 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Canon is adding almost 1 percent. Sony is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among the other major gainers, TDK is soaring almost 7 percent and Renesas Electronics is jumping almost 6 percent, while Disco, Mitsui Kinzoku, Taiyo Yuden and Kyocera are surging almost 5 percent each. Kokusai Electric, Minebea Mitsumi and NGK are advancing almost 4 percent each, while Komatsu, Nitori Holdings and Fuji Electric are gaining more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 157 yen-range on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks gave back some ground after an early surge but continued to turn in a strong performance throughout the trading session on Friday. The major averages all moved to the upside, adding to the modest gains posted during Thursday's session.

The major averages ended the day well off their highs of the session but still firmly positive. The Nasdaq jumped 319.27 points or 1.2 percent to 27,190.86, the S&P 500 advanced 56.27 points or 0.7 percent to 7,722.72 and the Dow climbed 250.40 points or 0.5 percent to 51,176.96.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Friday following reports that the European Union may release diesel reserves to help cool surging fuel prices linked to the Iran war. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $1.17 or 1.3 percent to $91.70 per barrel.