Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is trading modestly higher on Thursday, reversing some of the losses in the previous session, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 34,000 mark, with a mixed performance across most sectors as uncertainty surrounding US President Donald Trump's trade policies continue to weigh on the market.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 103.57 points or 0.31 percent to 34,023.97, after touching a high of 34,264.24 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging down 0.4 percent, while Honda is gaining more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 1 percent and Screen Holdings is edging up 0.1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is declining more than 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging down 0.1 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining 1.5 percent, while Panasonic and Sony are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each. Canon is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among other major gainers, CyberAgent is surging more than 7 percent, while TDK, Sumitomo Metal Mining, Sumitomo Chemical, Isetan Mitsukoshi, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and M3 are gaining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 142 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower early in the session on Wednesday and saw even further downside over the course of the trading day. The major averages all posted steep losses, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq under particularly heavy selling pressure.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the end of the day but remained firmly negative. The Nasdaq plunged 516.01 points or 3.1 percent to 16,307.16, the S&P 500 tumbled 120.93 points or 2.2 percent to 5,275.70 and the Dow slumped 699.57 points or 1.7 percent to 39,669.39.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned mixed over the course of the session after seeing early weakness. While the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices showed a substantial move back to the upside during trading on Wednesday after ending the previous session modestly lower. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery rose $1.14 or 1.9 percent to $62.47 a barrel.