Japanese Market Slightly Higher

The Japanese stock market is slightly higher after paring the early losses on Thursday, recouping the losses of the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 just above the 28,900 level, following the mixed cues overnight from Wall Street. Traders remain upbeat following yesterday’s positive comments on the economy from the Bank of Japan.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 46.40 points or 0.16 percent to 28,921.29, after hitting a low of 28,758.37 and a high of 28,935.34 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is flat. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining almost 1 percent and Honda is adding almost 2 percent.

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

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are gaining almost 1 percent each.

The major exporters are mixed. Mitsubishi Electric is losing more than 2 percent and Sony is edging down 0.3 percent, while Panasonic is gaining almost 1 percent. Canon is flat.

Among the other major gainers, Eisai is gaining 3.5 percent, while Mitsui Mining & Smelting and Alps Alpine are adding almost 3 percent each. Pacific Metals, Sumco, Nikon, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, Sumitomo Metal Mining, Subaru and Hino Motors are all up more than 2 percent each. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Fujikura and JFE Holdings are rising almost 2 percent each.

Conversely, Japan Exchange Group is losing more than 3 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is down more than 2 percent, while Takara Holdings, Mitsubishi Estate, West Japan Railway, Ricoh are lower by almost 2 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the 111 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Wednesday before eventually ending the session little changed. Despite the choppy trading, the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up to a new record closing high.

The major averages finished the day on opposite sides of the unchanged line. While the Nasdaq crept up 18.47 points or 0.1 percent to 14,271.73, the Dow slipped 71.34 points or 0.2 percent to 33,874.24 and the S&P 500 edged down 4.60 points or 0.1 percent to 4,241.84.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slumped 1.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slid 0.9 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index slipped 0.2 percent.

Oil prices rose on Wednesday after data showed a larger than expected decline in U.S. crude inventories last week. However, the possibility of increased output from major oil producers limited oil’s surge. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended up $0.23 or 0.3 percent at $73.08 a barrel.

Market Analysis