Japanese Market Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - Reversing the losses in the previous session, the Japanese market is sharply higher on Thursday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 38,700 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 881.80 points or 2.33 percent to 38,752.06, after touching a high of 38,815.38 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 4 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 3 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining more than 1 percent, while Honda is also adding more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is surging almost 7 percent and Advantest is advancing more than 5 percent, while Screen Holdings gaining almost 4 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is gaining more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding almost 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is advancing almost 2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon is advancing almost 3 percent, while Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are gaining more than 2 percent each. Panasonic is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among other major gainers, Ebara is soaring 8.5 percent and Disco is surging more than 7 percent, while DeNA, Konami Group and Isetan Mitsukoshi are gaining more than 5 percent each. Kansai Electric Power, Nintendo, Hitachi and ZOZO are adding more than 4 percent each, while Socionext and NTT Data Group are advancing almost 4 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In economic news, members of the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Board said that the country has largely recovered the financial stresses of the past few years, minutes from the central bank's meeting on July 30-31 revealed on Thursday - and the economy is likely to continue to grow.

At the meeting, the BoJ raised its benchmark rate by 15 basis points and also announced its plan to reduce bond purchases to around JPY 3 trillion by the first quarter of 2026.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 144 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks closed weak on Wednesday amid uncertainty about the near-term outlook following recent gains that lifted the two of the major averages - the Dow and the S&P 500 - to record highs. Investors digested the latest set of economic data and assessed the central bank's rate cut trajectory.

The Dow ended down 293.47 points or 0.7 percent at 41,914.75, snapping a four-session winning streak. The S&P 500 settled lower by 10.67 points or 0.19 percent at 5,722.26, while the Nasdaq closed up 7.68 points or 0.04 percent at 18,082.21.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. The Stoxx 600 ended down 0.11 percent. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.17 percent, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 lost 0.41 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Wednesday on uncertainty about the outlook for demand and easing concerns over supply disruptions in Libya. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November sank $1.87 or 2.6 percent at $69.69 a barrel.