Japanese Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is significantly higher in choppy trading on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 27,300 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, as traders remain cautious and pick up battered stocks at a bargain following the recent market weakness.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 191.87 points or 0.71 percent at 27,348.01, after touching a high of 27,371.38 earlier. Japanese stocks closed sharply higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.5 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.1 percent. In the tech space, Screen Holdings is edging down 0.1 percent, while Tokyo Electron and Advantest are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Canon is edging down 0.2 percent. Panasonic is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Tokyo Electric Power is gaining more than 3 percent, while Seven & I Holdings and Tokyo Gas are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Credit Saison is plunging more than 8 percent, Sharp is losing more than 3 percent and Konami Group is down almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 149 yen-range on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks gave back some ground over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after surging early in the session, but managed to close firmly positive. The major averages added to the strong gains posted on Monday, further offsetting recent weakness.

The Dow pulled back well off its early high but still ended the day up 337.98 points or 1.1 percent at 30,523.80, its best closing level in almost a month. The Nasdaq advanced 96.60 points or 0.9 percent to 10,772.40 and the S&P 500 jumped 42.03 points or 1.1 percent at 3,719.98.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day but closed well off their best levels. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday after a volatile session amid uncertainty about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November slumped $2.64 or 3.1 percent at $82.82 a barrel.