Japanese Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - Reversing the losses in the previous two sessions, the Japanese market is significantly higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 49,150 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks. Financial stocks were the only weak spot.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 537.85 points or 1.11 percent to 49,179.46, after touching a high of 49,267.27 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining almost 1 percent and Honda is edging up 0.1 percent.

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

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony is declining almost 1 percent, while Canon is edging up 0.5 percent, Panasonic is gaining almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is adding more than 1 percent.

Among other major gainers, Taiyo Yuden is surging more than 5 percen and Disco is gaining 4.5 percent, while Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Hitachi and Resonac Holdings are advancing more than 3 percent each. Yaskawa Electric, SMC, Lasertec and Daikin Industries are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Nidec is tumbling more than 7 percent and IHI is losing almost 3 percent.

In economic news, overall consumer prices in Japan were up 2.9 percent on year in September, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication said on Friday. That was in line with expectations and up from 2.7 percent in August. On a monthly basis, inflation was up 0.1 percent - steady from the August reading. Core CPI also rose an annual 2.9 percent - again matching forecasts and up from 2.7 percent in the previous month.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 152 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved back to the upside during trading on Thursday following the weakness seen in the previous session. The major averages all moved higher on the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a notable advance.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the end of the day but remained in positive territory. The Nasdaq jumped 201.40 points or 0.9 percent to 22,941.80, the S&P 500 climbed 39.04 points or 0.6 percent to 6,738.44 and the Dow rose 144.20 points or 0.3 percent at 46,734.61.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both crept up by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices surged on Thursday, extending gains from the past two sessions, as the U.S. imposed sanctions against Russian oil majors. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $3.22 or 5.50 percent at $61.72 per barrel.