Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is notably higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous four sessions, with the Nikkei 225 just a tad below the 28,600 level, following the mostly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, aided by gains across most sectors, led by technology and financial stocks. Traders cautiously await the Bank of Japan's policy decision on Friday.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 154.64 points or 0.54 percent to 28,598.83, after touching a high of 28,734.79 earlier. Japanese stocks closed notably higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota and Honda are gaining more than 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are gaining more than 1 percent each.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding more than 1 percent. Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 1 percent and Panasonic is adding almost 2 percent, while Canon and Sony are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

Among the other major gainers, Seven & I Holdings is gaining almost 4 percent, while MS&AD Insurance Group, Tokio Marine and Sompo Holdings are adding more than 3 percent. Resona Holdings, Ajinomoto, Yamato Holdings, Nippon Paper Industries and Hoya are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In economic news, Japan's gross domestic product was flat on a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis in the fourth quarter of 2022, the Cabinet Office said on Thursday. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 0.2 percent following the 0.3 percent contraction in the third quarter. On an annualized basis, GDP rose 0.1 percent - also missing forecasts for a gain of 0.8 percent following the 1.0 percent decline in the three months prior.

The M2 money stock in Japan was up 2.6 percent on year in February, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday - coming in at 1,209.1 trillion yen. That was sky of expectations for an increase of 2.8 percent and down from 2.7 percent in January. The M3 money stock rose an annual 2.2 percent to 1,565.1 trillion yen, down from the 2.3 percent increase in the previous month. The L money stock climbed3.9 percent on year to 2,085.7 trillion yen, accelerating from the 3.7 percent gain a month earlier.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 137 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Wednesday following the sell-off seen in the previous session. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

The major averages eventually ended the session mixed. While the Dow slipped 58.06 points or 0.2 percent to 32,798.40, the S&P 500 crept up 5.64 points or 0.1 percent to 3,992.01 and the Nasdaq rose 45.67 points or 0.4 percent to 11,576.00.

The major European markets also turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index climbed by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices slipped on Wednesday, extending losses from the previous session amid concerns about outlook for energy demand following Powell's remarks to Congress. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended lower by $0.92 or 1.2 percent at $76.66 a barrel.