Japanese Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is trading significantly higher on Thursday after opening in the red, reversing some of the sharp losses in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 62,050 level, with strong gains in technology stocks partially offset by weakness in index heavyweights, automakers and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 638.03 points or 1.04 percent to 62,071.22, after hitting a low of 61,049.70 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing more than 2 percent and Honda is down almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is soaring almost 13 percent, Screen Holdings is advancing almost 3 percent and Tokyo Electron is surging almost 5 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are losing almost 3 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is declining almost 2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining more than 2 percent and Panasonic is adding almost 2 percent, while Sony is edging down 0.4 percent and Canon is losing almost 2 percent.

Among other major gainers, Kioxia Holdings is soaring almost 11 percent, Ibiden is jumping more than 8 percent, while Mitsui Kinzoku, Murata Manufacturing and NEC are surging more than 7 percent each. TDK is advancing almost 6 percent and Furukawa Electric is gaining almost 5 percent, while Sumitomo Electric Industries and Renesas Electronics are adding more than 4 percent each, while Fuji Electric, Fujikura and NGK are up almost 4 percent each.

Conversely, Nomura Holdings is tumbling almost 6 percent and Tokyo Electric Power is sliding more than 5 percent, while Konami Group and Ryohin Keikaku are slipping more than 4 percent each. Eisai and Kyowa Kirin are declining almost 4 percent each. J. Front Retailing, Shiseido, Sapporo Holdings, Japan Exchange, Chubu Electric Power, Nissui, East Japan Railway, SHIFT and Nitori Holdings are all losing more than 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 163 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a significant recovery over the course of the afternoon before seeing substantial volatility late in the day after tumbling early in the session on Wednesday. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 reached positive territory going into the final hour of trading only to nosedive going into the end of the session.

The major averages all finished the day sharply lower, just off their worst levels. The Dow plunged 1,153.18 points or 2.2 percent to 51,594.14, the Nasdaq tumbled 433.97 points or 1.7 percent to 24,442.94 and the S&P 500 slumped 112.63 points or 1.5 percent to 7,316.15.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index closed just below the unchanged line and the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Wednesday after Iran launched surprise attacks on U.S. bases in Jordan. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $5.55 or 7.00 percent at $84.81 per barrel.