Japanese Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is slightly higher in choppy trading on Friday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 staying above the 32,400 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with strong gains in technology stocks partially offset by weakness in exporters and financial stocks. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 11.95 points or 0.04 percent to 32,431.29, after hitting a low of 32,225.37 and a high of 32,780.63 earlier. Japanese stocks closed sharply higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is also down almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.3 percent and Toyota is flat.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 5 percent, Tokyo Electron is adding more than 2 percent and Screen Holdings is up more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.1 percent, while Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.4 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing almost 1 percent.

Among major exporters, Panasonic is declining more than 2 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.4 percent, while Sony and Canon are losing almost 2 percent each. Among other major losers Seven & I Holdings is plunging more than 6 percent, Mitsui E&S is losing almost 4 percent, Tokai Carbon is down more than 3 percent and Suzuki Motor is declining almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is gaining almost 5 percent and Toho is adding almost 4 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 137 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday, adding to the gains posted over the past few sessions. With the continued upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 once again reached their best closing levels in over a year.

The major averages gave back some ground going into the close but remained in positive territory. The Nasdaq surged 219.61 points or 1.6 percent to 14,138.57, the S&P 500 jumped 37.88 points or 0.9 percent to 4,510.04 and the narrower Dow inched up 47.71 points or 0.1 percent to 34,395.13.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Thursday as tamer-than-expected U.S. consumer price inflation and producer price inflation data raised expectations interest rates in the U.S. are very near their peak. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $1.14 or about 1.5 percent at $76.89 a barrel.