Japanese Market Sharply Higher; Up 2%

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Monday, recouping some of the losses in the previous three sessions. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving more than 2 percent to well above the 38,400 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets on Friday, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 789.17 or 2.10 percent at 38,456.58, after touching a high of 38,719.70 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding 1.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining 2.5 percent, while Toyota is adding 1.5 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is losing almost 6 percent, while Advantest is gaining more than 4 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding almost 4 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.5 percent, while Mizuho Financial is adding almost 2 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 1 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Canon is gaining more than 2 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is adding more than 4 percent and Sony is edging up 0.3 percent, while Panasonic is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among other major gainers, Shin-Etsu Chemical, Furukawa Electric and Sumco are soaring almost 7 percent each, while Mitsubishi Motors and IHI are surging more than 6 percent each. Fujikura is gaining almost 6 percent, while Mercari and Rakuten Group are adding more than 5 percent each. TDK and Resonac Holdings are advancing almost 5 percent each, while Dai-ichi Life, Mitsubishi Electric, Hino Motors, Murata Manufacturing and Sompo Holdings are up more than 4 percent each.

Conversely, Eisai is plummeting almost 12 percent and Hitachi Construction Machinery is plunging more than 9 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 153 yen-range on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Friday, following the mixed performance seen in the previous session. The major averages all showed strong moves to the upside, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 bouncing off their lowest closing levels in over a month.

The major averages ended the day off their best levels of the session but still firmly in positive territory. The Dow surged 654.27 points or 1.6 percent to 40,589.34, the Nasdaq shot up 176.16 points or 1.0 percent to 17,357.88 and the S&P 500 jumped 59.88 points or 1.1 percent to 5,459.10.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index climbed by 0.7 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both jumped by 1.2 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Friday amid concerns about the outlook for demand due to the economic slowdown in China, while hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza also weighed. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down $1.12 or 1.4 percent at $77.16 a barrel. WTI crude futures lost 1.9 percent in the week.