The Japanese stock market is significantly higher on Thursday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 just above the 28,400 level, following the positive cues overnight from Wall Street, led by gains in technology stocks. Traders are also upbeat after seeing a sharp 98 percent drop in domestic coronavirus cases from a month ago.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 269.80 points or 0.96 percent to 28,410.08, after touching a high of 28,502.74 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Wednesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota and Honda are edging down 0.2 percent each.
In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are gaining more than 3 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is adding more than 4 percent.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are all losing 1.5 percent each.
The major exporters are mostly higher. Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Panasonic is adding more than 1 percent. Canon is edging down 0.3 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Nexon is gaining more than 4 percent, while Shiseido and Konami Holdings are adding more than 3 percent each. Fujitsu and Olympus are up almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Credit Saison is losing almost 5 percent, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines is down more than 4 percent and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is lower by almost 4 percent, while T&D Holdings, IHI, Dai-ichi Life and Nippon Yusen K.K. are declining more than 3 percent each. Fujikura, Tosoh, Idemitsu Kosan, Resona Holdings and Concordia Financial are down almost 3 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 113 yen-range on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Wednesday before ending the day mostly higher. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 moved to the upside on the day, although the narrower Dow closed nearly unchanged.
While the Dow edged down 0.53 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 34,377.81, the Nasdaq climbed 105.71 points or 0.7 percent to 14,571.64 and the S&P 500 rose 13.15 points or 0.3 percent to 4,363.80. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 snapped three-session losing streaks.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday, weighed down by concerns that the slowdown in global economic growth could weaken the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November eased $0.20 or 0.3 percent at $80.44 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Significantly Higher
2021-10-14 02:23:24
