The Japanese stock market is significantly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei index a tad staying below the 27,500 level, following the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, with gains across most sectors, particularly in technology and financials.
Lingering concerns about the impact of the rapid spread of the coronavirus Omicron variant remain, with new daily cases breaching the 1,00,000 mark last week. With Tokyo and 33 of the 47 prefectures already under a quasi-state of emergency, the government is mulling extending it for Tokyo and 12 other prefectures for about three weeks beyond Sunday’s expiration.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 211.35 points or 0.77 percent at 27,495.87, after touching a high of 27,543.76 earlier. Japanese stocks closed slightly higher on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is surging more than 5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is adding almost 1 percent and Toyota is gaining almost 2 percent.
SoftBank Group announced plans to take Arm public following the collapse of a planned sale of the unit to Nvidia.
In the tech space, Screen Holdings is gaining almost 2 percent, Advantest is adding more than 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is advancing almost 1 percent.
In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is adding more than 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is advancing almost 2 percent.
Among the major exporters, Panasonic is gaining almost 2 percent and Canon is edging up 0.4 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are flat.
Among the other major gainers, IHI is soaring almost 10 percent, while AGC and JFE Holdings are surging more than 8 percent each. Nippon Sheet Glass, sharp and Z Holdings are gaining almost 6 percent each, while Olympus is adding almost 5 percent. Alps Alpine is up more than 4 percent, while Nissan Motor and Minebea Mitsumi are adding almost 4 percent each.
Conversely, DeNA is plunging almost 9 percent, Taiheiyo Cement is losing more than 6 percent and Taisei is down almost 4 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 115 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, more than offsetting the weakness seen on Monday. The major averages climbed firmly into positive territory after showing a lack of direction early in the session.
The major averages saw further upside going into the close, reaching new highs for the session. The Dow jumped 371.65 points or 1.1 percent to 35,462.78, the Nasdaq surged 178.79 points or 1.3 percent to 14,194.46 and the S&P 500 advanced 37.67 points or 0.8 percent to 4,521.54.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices settled sharply lower Tuesday, extending losses from the previous session. Oil prices dropped with traders eyeing U.S.-Iran talks, which if successful could flood the market. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March dropped $1.96 or about 2.2 percent at $89.36 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Significantly Higher
2022-02-09 02:26:43
