Japanese Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading significantly higher on Monday, adding to the gains in the previous session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving well above the 38,800 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street cues on Friday, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights, technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 394.10 or 1.02 percent at 38,882.00, after touching a high of 39,032.50 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 1 percent, while Toyota is edging down 0.1 percent.

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

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

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

Among other major gainers, Mercari is skyrocketing more than 12 percent, Nissan Chemical is soaring more than 8 percent, Sumitomo Pharma is surging almost 8 percent, while Sharp and Yaskawa Electric are gaining more than 5 percent each. Taisei is adding almost 5 percent, while Omron, Taiyo Yuden, M3, Suzuki Motor and JTEKT are advancing almost 4 percent each. Ricoh, TDK and Kyocera are up more than 3 percent. Tokio Marine is rising almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Socionext is slipping more than 5 percent and Fujikura is losing more than 3 percent, while Furukawa Electric and Disco are declining almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Japan bounced back up into expansion territory in May, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.4. That's up from 49.6 in April and it moves above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 157 yen-range on Monday.

On Wall Street, stock indexes all rallied going into the close of trading on Friday after turning in a mixed performance throughout much of the session. The Dow showed a substantial move to the upside, bouncing off its lowest closing level in almost a month.

The Dow surged 574.84 points or 1.5 percent to 38,686.32 and the S&P 500 advanced 42.03 points or 0.8 percent to 5,277.51, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day down 2.06 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 16,735.02, but showed a substantial recovery after tumbling by as much as 1.7 percent earlier in the session.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index crept up by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index closed just above the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices fell on Friday, extending losses to a third straight day amid concerns about the outlook for demand - although optimism over the extension of OPEC production cuts limited the downside. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July slipped $0.92 at $76.99 a barrel.