Japanese Market Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - Extending the gains in the previous three sessions, the Japanese stock Market is trading sharply higher on Thursday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 39,900 level after breaching the 40,000 mark earlier, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights, exporters and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 546.12 points or 1.39 percent to 39,918.35, after touching a high of 40,091.55 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining more than 1 percent, while Honda is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 4 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding more than 1 percent, while Screen Holdings is edging down 0.1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 1 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.2 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding more than 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon is gaining 1.5 percent and Panasonic is adding more than 1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Among other major gainers, Fujikura is surging more than 5 percent and DeNA is gaining more than 4 percent, while Chubu Electric Power and Recruit Holdings are adding almost 4 percent each. Mitsubishi Electric, Furukawa Electric and Rakuten Group are up more than 3 percent each, while Aeon, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, NTT Data, Sumitomo Metal Mining, Osaka Gas and Shimizu are all advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 152 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday, rebounding strongly following the pullback seen to start the week. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a particularly strong upward move, closing above 20,000 for the first time.

The Nasdaq surged 347.65 points or 1.8 percent to a new record closing high of 20,034.89, while the S&P 500 climbed 49.28 points or 0.8 percent to 6,084.19. Meanwhile, the narrower Dow showed a lack of direction over the course of the session before closing down 99.27 points or 0.2 percent at 44,148.56.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose increased by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices settled higher Wednesday on possible sanctions on Russia by the European Union, expectations of increased demand from China and data showing a jump in gasoline stockpiles. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for January closed up $1.70 or 2.5 percent at $70.29 a barrel.