Japanese Market Sharply Higher

Boosted by gains in exporters and technology stocks, Japanese shares are gaining for the third straight session on Thursday. The Nikkei 225 Index moved above the 32,300 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 405.70 points or 1.27 percent to 32,342.21, after touching a high of 32,383.30 earlier. Japanese stocks closed notably higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group and uniqlo operator Fast Retailing are edging up 0.4 percent each. Among automakers, Toyota and Honda are gaining more than 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 4 percent, Tokyo Electron is adding more than 3 percent and Screen Holdings is advancing almost 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is advancing almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon is adding more than 1 percent, Sony is gaining more than 2 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is up almost 1 percent and Panasonic is advancing almost 2 percent.

Among other major gainers, Lasertec and Yaskawa Electric are surging more than 6 percent each, while Renesas Electronics is gaining more than 5 percent. SMC and Taiyo Yuden are adding almost 5 percent each, while CyberAgent is up more than 4 percent. Aeon, Amada and Murata Manufacturing are rising almost 4 percent each, while TDK, Daiichi Sankyo, Keyence and Hitachi are advancing more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Inpex and J. Front Retailing are losing almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were down 0.3 percent on month in September, the Bank of Japan said on or BoJ, Thursday. That missed expectations for an increase of 0.1 percent and was down from 0.3 percent in August. On a yearly basis, producer prices were up 2.0 percent – again shy of expectations for a gain of 2.3 percent and down from the upwardly revised 3.3 percent increase in the previous month (originally 3.2 percent).

The BoJ also said overall bank lending in Japan was up 2.9 percent on year in September, coming in at 607.742 trillion yen. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 3.1 percent, which would have been unchanged from the August reading. For the third quarter of 2023, overall lending was up 3.0 percent on year.

Further, the value of core machine orders in Jaan was down a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent on month in August, the Cabinet Office said on Thursday – coming in at 840.7 billion yen. That missed forecasts for a gain of 0.4 percent following the 1.1 percent drop in July.

On a yearly basis, orders were down 7.7 percent – again missing expectations for a fall of 7.3 percent after tumbling 13.0 percent in the previous month. For the third quarter of 2023, core machine orders are seen lower by 2.6 percent on quarter and 7.9 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 149 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Wednesday but managed to end the day mostly higher. With the upward move, the major averages all closed higher for the fourth consecutive session.

The major averages moved to the upside going into the close, ending the session near their best levels of the day. The Nasdaq advanced 96.83 points or 0.7 percent to 13,659.68, the S&P 500 climbed 18.71 points or 0.4 percent to 4,376.95 and the Dow rose 65.57 points or 0.2 percent to 33,804.87.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index rose by 0.2 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Wednesday, extending losses from the previous session, as Saudi Arabia’s pledge to help stabilize the market outweighed concerns about supply disruptions amid the tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November sank $83.49 a barrel, down $2.48 or 2.9 percent.

Market Analysis