Japanese Market Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Monday, recouping the losses in the previous session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 39,200 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 503.49 or 1.30 percent at 39,290.87, after touching a high of 39,437.16 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is flat, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is adding more than 2 percent, while Toyota is gaining almost 1 percent.

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

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining 1.5 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding more than 1 percent and Mizuho Financial is advancing more than 2 percent.

The major exporters are higher. Canon is gaining almost 2 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is adding almost 1 percent, Sony is edging up 0.5 percent and Panasonic is advancing more than 2 percent.

Among other major gainers, Sumitomo Metal Mining is soaring more than 7 percent, while Mitsubishi Materials and Socionext are surging almost 7 percent each. Taisei and Shin-Etsu Chemical are gaining almost 6 percent each, while ENEOS Holdings is adding almost 5 percent, while Mitsui Mining & Smelting, Minebea Mitsumi, Fujikura, Yamaha Motor, Japan Steel Works and Inpex are up more than 4 percent each, while Sumitomo Chemical, NTT Data and Idemitsu Kosan are advancing almost 4 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 155 yen-range on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction during trading on Friday, following the modest pullback seen over the course of the previous session. The major average spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing narrowly mixed.

Despite the choppy trading, the Dow closed above 40,000 for the first time, rising 134.21 points or 0.3 percent to 40,003.59. The S&P 500 also crept up 6.17 points or 0.1 percent to 5,303.27, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged down 12.35 points or 0.1 percent at 16,685.97.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index declined by 0.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices rose on Friday amid easing inflation, data showing a drop in inventories, and hopes of interest rate cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June climbed to $80.06 a barrel, gaining $0.79 or more than 1 percent. WTI crude futures gained 2.3 percent in the week.