The Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Thursday, recouping some of the losses of the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 just below the 27,700 level, following the mixed cues overnight from Wall Street, lifted by the Federal Reserve comments that economic activity and employment in the US have continued to strengthen.
Traders remain cautious amid the continued acceleration in the new wave of coronavirus cases, particularly in Olympic city Tokyo, which saw a record 3,177 new cases on Wednesday, topping the 3,000 marks for the first time.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 101.22 points or 0.37 percent to 27,682.88, after touching a high of 27,794.41 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Wednesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging up 0.3 percent and Honda is gaining almost 2 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings is gaining more than 7 percent, Screen Holdings is adding more than 4 percent and Tokyo Electron is up almost 2 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are flat, while Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.3 percent.
The major exporters are mixed. Sony is gaining more than 3 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is adding almost 1 percent, while Canon is losing more than 2 percent. Panasonic is edging up 0.1 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Nissan Motor is gaining more than 7 percent and Tokyo Gas is adding more than 3 percent, while Yaskawa Electric, Hino Motors and Taiyo Yuden are up almost 3 percent each. Sumco and Taiyo Yuden are rising more than 2 percent each. Isuzu Motors, Rakuten Group and Yamaha Motor are higher by almost 2 percent each.
Conversely, CyberAgent is losing almost 9 percent, TDK is down almost 4 percent and Z Holdings is declining almost 3 percent, while Hitachi Construction Machinery, Tokyo Electric Power, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Tokyo Tatemono, M3 and Isetan Mitsukoshi are all lower by almost 2 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 109 yen-range on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks ended mixed on Wednesday after a somewhat volatile session as investors reacted to a slew of corporate earnings updates, and the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy statement.
The tech-laden Nasdaq composite index surged higher and settled at 14,762.58, gaining 102.01 points or 0.7 percent. The Dow ended down by 127.59 points or 0.36 percent at 34,930.93, while the S&P 500 edged down 0.82 points or 0.02 percent to 4,400.64.
Meanwhile, European stocks closed higher on the day, rebounding after two successive days of losses. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.29 percent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.33 percent and France’s CAC 40 surged up 1.18 percent.
Crude oil prices moved higher Wednesday, lifted by data showing a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended up $0.74 or 1 percent at $72.39 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Modestly Higher
2021-07-29 02:25:45
