Recouping some of the losses in the previous session, the Japanese stock market is trading modestly higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark Nikkei 225 is moving above the 33,200 level, as traders reacted to domestic data that showed inflation in Japan continued to ease in November.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 84.31 points or 0.25 percent to 33,224.78, after touching a high of 33,375.19 earlier. Japanese stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.4 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.1 percent, while Toyota is edging down 0.2 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is edging down 0.3 percent and Screen Holdings is losing almost 2 percent, while Tokyo Electron is adding almost 1 percent.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are gaining more than 2 percent each.
Among major exporters, Sony and Canon are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are gaining almost 1 percent each.
Among other major gainers, Shiseido is gaining more than 4 percent, while Sumitomo Pharma and Suzuki Motor are adding more than 3 percent each. Nippon Paper Industries, Shin-Etsu Chemical and Odakyu Electric Railway are advancing almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, there are no other major losers
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 142 yen-range on Friday.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Thursday following the sharp pullback seen late in Wednesday’s session. The major averages all moved notably higher, largely offsetting yesterday’s steep losses.
The major averages saw further upside going into the close, reaching new highs for the session. The Dow advanced 322.35 points or 0.9 percent to 37,404.35, the Nasdaq surged 185.92 points or 1.3 percent to 14,963.84 and the S&P 500 jumped 48.40 points or 1.0 percent to 4,746.75.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.2 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both dipped by 0.3 percent.
Crude oil futures snapped a three-day winning streak on Thursday after Angola’s decision to exit OPEC raised concerns about the oil cartel’s ability to support prices by curbing output. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $0.33 at $73.8 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Modestly Higher
2023-12-22 02:14:57
