Japanese Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is trading slightly higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous five sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 36,100 level, with a mixed performance across most sectors as traders remain cautious ahead of the Bank of Japan's latest monetary policy decision.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 61.47 points or 0.17 percent to 36,106.85, after touching a high of 36,341.62 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging up 0.5 percent, while Honda is edging down 0.1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining 2.5 percent, while Screen Holdings is edging down 0.4 percent and Tokyo Electron is declining more than 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Sony is losing 1.5 percent and Canon is edging down 0.2 percent, while Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.

Among other major gainers, Sumitomo Pharma is skyrocketing more than 11 percent, Central Japan Railway is soaring more than 8 percent, Nippon Electric Glass is surging more than 5 percent and Otsuka Holdings is gaining almost 4 percent, while Seven & I Holdings and Socionext are gaining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Murata Manufacturing is plunging more than 15 percent and Kansai Electric Power is sliding almost 6 percent, while Alps Alpine, ZOZO and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines are losing more than 4 percent each. Toho is declining almost 4 percent and Tokyo Electric Power is down more than 3 percent.

In economic news, the Bank of Japan will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Thursday and then announce its decision on interest rates. The BoJ is widely expected to leave its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 0.50 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 142 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a significant recovery over the course of the trading day on Wednesday after pulling back sharply early in the session. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day before eventually closing mixed.

The major averages showed a strong move to the upside going into the close of trading. While the Nasdaq still ended the day down 14.98 points or 0.1 percent at 17,446.34, the S&P 500 rose 8.21 points or 0.2 percent to 5,569.06 and the Dow climbed 141.74 points or 0.4 percent to 40,669.36.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved modestly lower on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices showed another significant move to the downside on Wednesday amid ongoing concerns about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery plunged $2.20 or 3.6 percent to $58.22 a barrel. For the month of April, crude for June delivery nosedived by 18 percent.