Japanese Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is trading significantly higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving up to near the 69,000 mark, with gains in index heavyweights, automakers and exporter stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 682.58 points or 1.00 percent to 68,991.17, after touching a high of 69,608.24 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 4 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is flat. Among automakers, Toyota is up more than 1 percent and Honda is also advancing more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is surging almost 5 percent, while Screen Holdings is losing almost 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.1 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Panasonic is gaining almost 4 percent and Canon is up more than 1 percent, while Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are adding more than 4 percent each.

Among other major gainers, Nintendo is soaring almost 7 percent and Kioxia Holdings is jumping more than 5 percent, while Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and SHIFT are advancing almost 5 percent each. Socionext is gaining more than 4 percent, while Konica Minolta and Sumco are adding almost 4 percent each. Nomura Research Institute, Yokohama Rubber, BayCurrent and NEC are up more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Isetan Mitsukoshi is declining almost 6 percent, Chugai Pharmaceutical is losing more than 4 percent and Ibiden are down almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 159 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday, adding to the moderate gains posted in the previous sessions. The major averages all moved to the upside on the day, with the S&P 500 reaching a new record closing high.

The Nasdaq led the way higher, advancing 214.54 points or 0.8 percent to a two-month closing high of 26,803.03. The S&P 500 also climbed 50.49 points or 0.7 percent to 7,798.99, while the narrower Dow posted a more modest gain, inching up 69.72 points or 0.1 percent to 53,839.99.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.3 percent and the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped on Thursday following reports from energy agencies indicating that global oil demand is set to fall more heavily than expected. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $1.76 or 2.11 percent at $81.51 per barrel.