Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is notably higher on Wednesday, adding to the gains in the previous three sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 38,500 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 185.55 or 0.48 percent at 38,541.61, after touching a high of 38,816.60 earlier. Japanese stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is adding more than 1 percent and Toyota is also gaining more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 3 percent, Screen Holdings is up almost 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding more than 2 percent.

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

Among the major exporters, Panasonic, Mitsubishi Electric and Canon are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Sony is soaring almost 10 percent after it reported a 34 percent rise in quarterly profit on stronger earnings from its game and movie businesses.

Among other major gainers, Isetan Mitsukoshi is skyrocketing almost 15 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Trust, NEXON and Amada are soaring more than 8 percent each. Yokohama Rubber is surging almost 8 percent and Isuzu Motors is gaining more than 6 percent, while NTN, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Asahi Group and Resona Holdings are adding more than 4 percent each. Denso, IHI and Subaru are advancing almost 4 percent each, while Suzuki Motor is up more than 3 percent.

Conversely, Nitori Holdings plummeting more than 15 percent and Casio Computer is plunging more than 10 percent, while Konica Minolta and Sharp are declining more than 9 percent each. Sumitomo Pharma and Tobu Railway are losing more than 6 percent each, while Idemitsu Kosanand Odakyu Electric Railway are slipping more than 5 percent each. Rakuten Group, Marui Group and Dentsu Group are losing more than 4 percent each, while Nissan Chemical, Obayashi and Shimizu are down more than 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 156 yen-range on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Tuesday before eventually ending the day mostly higher. The major averages all moved to the upside, with the Dow bouncing back after snapping an eight-day winning streak on Monday.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way higher, advancing 122.94 points or 0.8 percent to a new record closing high of 16,511.18. The S&P 500 climbed 25.26 points or 0.5 percent to 5,246.68 and the Dow rose 126.60 points or 0.3 percent to 39,558.11.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also ended the day narrowly mixed. While the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both crept up by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices settled lower Tuesday as data showing a bigger than expected increase in U.S. producer prices raised concerns that Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for a longer period. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June sank $1.10 or about 1.4 percent at $78.02 a barrel.