The Japanese stock market is modestly higher after recouping early losses on Friday, extending the sharp gains of the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 above the 29,400 mark, following broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street on better-than-expected weekly labor market data. Continuing concerns about the spike in daily domestic coronavirus infections and possible lockdowns are weighing on the market.
According to media reports, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said the situation in the capital has not improved enough to lift the state of emergency as plans are afloat to expand and extend the ongoing pandemic-related state of emergency.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 90.54 points or 0.31 percent to 29,421.91, after touching a high of 29,449.86 and a low of 29,237.36 earlier. Japanese shares closed sharply higher on Thursday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.5 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.4 percent and Toyota is flat.
In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 2 percent, Tokyo Electron is adding almost 3 percent and Screen Holdings is up more than 3 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are adding almost 1 percent each.
The major exporters are mixed. Mitsubishi Electric and Canon are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Panasonic is edging down 0.3 percent and Sony is losing almost 2 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Shinsei Bank, Toho Zinc, Fukuoka Financial, Takara Holdings and Tokuyama are gaining more than 3 percent each. Hitachi Construction, NTN, Mitsui E&S Holdings, Asahi Group, Pacific Metals, Showa Denko, Shimizu and Nippon Express are all adding almost 3 percent.
Conversely, Kyowa Kirin is losing almost 3 percent, while M3, Nomura Holdings and Keio Corp. are down more than 2 percent each.
In economic news, the services sector in Japan continued to contract in April, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Friday with a services PMI score of 49.5. That’s up from 48.3 in March, although it remains slightly below the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. This marked the slowest contraction in activity in the current 15-month period of decline. The latest reduction was only modest overall, as firms faced softer restrictions in the first half of April. The report also showed that the composite index moved to expansion with a reading of 51.0, up from 49.9 in March.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 109 yen-range on Friday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday, following the mixed performance seen in the previous session. With the upward move, the Dow reached another new record closing high.
The major averages saw further upside going into the close, reaching new highs for the session. The Dow jumped 318.19 points or 0.9 percent to 34,548.53, the Nasdaq rose 50.42 points or 0.4 percent to 13,632.84 and the S&P 500 climbed 34.03 points or 0.8 percent to 4,201.62.
The major European markets all also moved to the upside over the course of the session. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
Crude oil futures finished lower on Thursday, extending losses from previous session amid worries about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June were down $0.92 or 1.4 percent at $64.71 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Modestly Higher
2021-05-07 02:32:03
