Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is notably higher on Friday after opening in the red, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 moving to a tad below the 26,000 mark, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders reacted to domestic data that showed services sector activity growth for showed a fourth-consecutive month in December. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 133.94 points or 0.52 percent to 25,954.74, after touching a high of 25,956.11 and a low of 25,719.61. Japanese stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is declining almost 1 percent, while Screen Holdings is edging up 0.5 percent and Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is gaining 1.5 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.4 percent.

Among major exporters, Canon and Panasonic are edging up 0.1 percent each, while Sony is gaining more than 1 percent. Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 1 percent. Among the other major gainers, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is gaining more than 3 percent and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines is adding almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Nippon Sheet Glass is losing almost 4 percent and Citizen Watch is declining almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 133 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower in early trading on Thursday and remained firmly negative throughout the session. With the steep drop on the day, the major averages more than offset the gains posted in the previous session.

The major averages all showed notable moves to the downside on the day. The Dow slumped 339.69 points or 1.0 percent to 32,930.08, the Nasdaq plunged 152.52 points or 1.5 percent to 10,305.24 and the S&P 500 tumbled 44.87 points or 1.2 percent to 3,808.10.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Thursday, rebounding from recent losses, after data showed gasoline and distillate stockpiles dropped in the week ended December 30th. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended higher by $0.83 or about 1.1 percent at $73.67 a barrel.