The Japanese stock market is trading modestly higher in choppy trading on Friday, recouping some of the losses in the previous six sessions, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 just above the 29,700 level, following the mostly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, as traders are bargain hunting after the recent losing streak.
Traders are also awaiting the implementation of the bigger than expected economic stimulus package from newly elected government.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 117.74 points or 0.40 percent to 29,716.40, after touching a high of 29,736.24 earlier. Japanese shares closed modestly lower on Thursday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 2 percent, while Toyota is edging down 0.5 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is gaining 1.5 percent and Tokyo Electron is surging almost 5 percent, while Screen Holdings is up almost 2 percent.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are edging down 0.4 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is losing more than 2 percent.
Among major exporters, Panasonic is losing more than 1 percent, while Canon is gaining more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.2 percent. Sony is flat.
Among the other major gainers, Kubota is gaining 4.5 percent, while Dowa Holdings and Taiyo Yuden are advancing almost 4 percent each. Mitsui & Co. and Fujifilm Holdings are up more than 3 percent each, while Inpex and DIC Corp. are rising almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, CyberAgent is sliding almost 5 percent, T&D Holdings is losing more than 3 percent and Eisai is down almost 3 percent.
In economic news, overall consumer prices in Japan were up 0.1 percent on year in October, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday. That was in line with expectations and down from 0.2 percent in September. Core consumer prices, which exclude volatile food prices, also rose an annual 0.1 percent – unchanged and matching forecasts. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, overall inflation slipped 0.3 percent and core CPI dipped 0.1 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 114 yen-range on Friday.
On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Thursday before closing mixed after ending the previous session modestly lower. Despite the choppy trading, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs.
While the Nasdaq climbed 72.14 points or 0.5 percent to 15,993.71 and the S&P 500 rose 15.87 points or 0.3 percent to 4,704.54, the narrower Dow recovered from its early lows but still closed down 60.10 points or 0.2 percent at 35,870.95.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both edged down by 0.2 percent.
Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday, bouncing back after early weakness, despite uncertainty about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December gained $0.65 or 0.8 percent at $79.01 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Modestly Higher
2021-11-19 02:20:43
