The Japanese stock market is sharply higher on Thursday, after closing slightly lower in the previous session following six straight sessions of gains, with the Nikkei 225 soaring almost 500 points to break above the 30,000 level, following positive cues overnight from Wall Street. The broader market is being lifted by gains in technology, financials and materials stocks.
There is also optimism about the reopening of the economy after the Japanese government reportedly said the state of emergency in Tokyo area will end on Sunday.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 474.15 points or 1.59 percent to 30,388.48, after touching a high of 30,485.00 in early trades. Japanese shares ended a volatile session slightly lower on Wednesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is rising nearly 3 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota is adding more than 2 percent and Toyota is up almost 1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 5 percent and Tokyo Electron is up nearly 4 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding more than 2 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is up almost 2 percent.
The major exporters are higher. Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are rising almost 2 percent each, while Canon is adding nearly 1 percent and Panasonic is gaining more than 1 percent.
Among the other major gainers, CyberAgent is rising more than 7 percent, while Takara Holdings, Screen Holdings and Rakuten are adding more than 5 percent each. Sumco is gaining almost 5 percent, while Haseko and Alps Alpine are up around 4 percent each.
Conversely, Sharp and Mitsubishi Motors are losing almost 2 percent each, while Sinsei Bank, Kuraray, Nexon, Suzuki Motor and IHI are down more than 1 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in lower 109 yen-range on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks ended Wednesday’s trading mostly higher, reflecting a positive reaction to the Federal Reserve’s highly anticipated monetary policy announcement. With the upward move, the Dow and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs.
The major averages all finished the day in positive territory, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a significant rebound after moving sharply lower in early trading. After tumbling by as much as 1.5 percent, the Nasdaq ended the day up 53.64 points or 0.4 percent to 13,525.20. The Dow also advanced 189.42 points or 0.6 percent to 33,015.37 and the S&P 500 rose 11.41 points or 0.3 percent to 3,974.12.
Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index closed nearly unchanged and the German DAX Index rose up by 0.3 percent.
Crude oil futures settled lower on Wednesday, weighed down by another jump in U.S. crude stockpiles and concerns over the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $0.20 or 0.3 percent at $64.60 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Sharply Higher
2021-03-18 02:12:50
