Japanese Market Slightly Higher

The Japanese stock market is slightly higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 staying above the 27,700 level, following the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, even as the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus continues to stifle economic activity in 30 cities in the country.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 21.76 points or 0.08 percent to 27,749.88, after touching high of 27,888.87 earlier. Japanese shares closed modestly higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.5 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.3 percent, while Toyota is losing more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is flat and Tokyo Electron is losing almost 1 percent and Screen Holdings is down almost 2 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are edging up 0.6 percent each.

Among major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 1 percent, while Panasonic and Canon are edging down 0.3 percent each. Sony is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Fujikura is gaining more than 13 percent, Konami Holdings is adding more than 8 percent, Nikon is up more than 7 percent, while Shiseido and Suzuki Motor are higher by more than 5 percent each. Mitsui E&S Holdings, Taiyo Yuden, BANDAI NAMCO, NTT Data and Kawasaki Heavy Industries are gaining almost 5 percent each, while Olympus and Shionogi & Co. are adding almost 4 percent.

Conversely, Kobe Steel is losing more than 9 percent, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is down almost 6 percent, Sharp is declining more than 6 percent, Sumco is lower by 5.5 percent and Furukawa Electric is down more than 5 percent, while SKY Perfect JSAT and Takara Holdings are losing more than 4 percent.

In economic news, the average of household spending in Japan was down 5.1 percent on year in June, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday, coming in at 260,285 yen. That was well shy of expectations for an increase of 0.1 percent and down sharply from the 11.6 percent spike in May. On a monthly basis, household spending sank 3.2 percent – again missing forecasts for an increase of 2.0 percent after slipping 2.1 percent in the previous month. The average of monthly income per household stood at 904,078 yen, down 11.5 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 109 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved back to the upside during trading on Thursday after ending the previous session mostly lower. With the upward move on the day, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs.

The major averages saw further upside going into the close, ending the session at their best levels of the day. The Dow climbed 271.58 points or 0.8 percent to 35,064.25, the Nasdaq advanced 114.58 points or 0.8 percent to 14,895.12 and the S&P 500 rose 26.44 points or 0.6 percent to 4,429.10.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also finished the day mixed. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index edged down 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index rose 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.5 percent.

Crude oil futures rebounded Thursday, regaining ground after moving sharply lower over the three previous sessions. After plummeting by 7.8 percent so far this week, crude for September delivery advanced $0.94 or 1.4 percent to $69.09 a barrel.

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