Following three consecutive days of gains, the Japanese stock market is experiencing substantial increases on Thursday, drawing mixed signals from Wall Street's overnight performance. The Nikkei 225 Index is advancing past the 39,900 mark, having earlier surpassed the 40,000 threshold, with most sectors observing a rise, led by major index components, exporters, and technology stocks.
Currently, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index has risen by 546.12 points or 1.39%, reaching 39,918.35, after reaching a peak of 40,091.55 earlier in the session. Japanese shares concluded the day with slight advances on Wednesday.
Prominent market player SoftBank Group has increased by over 2%, with Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing climbing more than 1%. In the automotive sector, Toyota is up by over 1%, whereas Honda has decreased slightly by 0.4%.
Within the technology sector, Advantest has soared by over 4%, and Tokyo Electron has gained more than 1%, while Screen Holdings has seen a minor decline of 0.1%.
In banking, Mizuho Financial is up nearly 1%, with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial inching up by 0.2%, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial rising by more than 1%.
Major exporters such as Canon have increased by 1.5%, and Panasonic by over 1%, while Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are up nearly 3% each.
Among notable gainers, Fujikura has surged by over 5%, DeNA by more than 4%, and both Chubu Electric Power and Recruit Holdings are advancing by almost 4% each. Mitsubishi Electric, Furukawa Electric, and Rakuten Group have risen by over 3% each, with Aeon, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, NTT Data, Sumitomo Metal Mining, Osaka Gas, and Shimizu all experiencing gains of nearly 3%.
Conversely, no significant losses have been observed.
In the currency exchange market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower range of 152 yen on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks mostly climbed on Wednesday, rebounding sharply after a dip earlier in the week. The technology-focused Nasdaq performed notably well, closing above 20,000 for the first time.
The Nasdaq enhanced by 347.65 points or 1.8%, achieving a new record closing high at 20,034.89. The S&P 500 increased by 49.28 points or 0.8% to 6,084.19. Conversely, the smaller Dow fluctuated throughout the session, ultimately closing down by 99.27 points or 0.2% at 44,148.56.
Across Europe, major markets have also predominantly seen upwards movements. The French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4%, while the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index each increased by 0.3%.
In the commodities market, crude oil prices settled higher on Wednesday amidst potential European Union sanctions on Russia, anticipated heightened demand from China, and data indicating a surge in gasoline inventories. January futures for West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed up by $1.70 or 2.5%, at $70.29 per barrel.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company -
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