Japanese Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading significantly higher on Monday, extending the gains in the previous session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving to near the 40,200 level to fresh all-time highs, following the broadly positive cues from global markets on Friday, with gains in index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 285.21 or 0.71 percent at 40,196.03, after touching an all-time high of 40,314.64 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.3 percent, while Toyota is losing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is gaining almost 1 percent, Advantest is advancing more than 3 percent and Tokyo Electron is up more than 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is down 0.2 percent. Mizuho Financial is flat.

The major exporters are higher. Canon is gaining more than 1 percent, while Panasonic, Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are losing almost 1 percent each.

Among other major gainers, Olympus and Isetan Mitsukoshi are surging more than 5 percent each, while Renesas Electronics is gaining almost 5 percent. Rakuten Group is up more than 4 percent, while Sumco and CyberAgent are advancing almost 4 percent each. Mitsui Fudosan and Lasertec are up more than 3 percent each, while Keyence, Pacific Metals, Japan Exchange Group, Chugai Pharmaceutical and Yaskawa Electric are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is losing almost 6 percent, DeNA is declining almost 5 percent and Aozora Bank is down more than 4 percent.

In economic news, the monetary base in Japan was up 2.4 percent on year in February, the Bank of Japan said on Monday - coming in at 661.668 trillion yen. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 4.7 percent and down from the upwardly revisted 4.8 percent gain in January (originally 4.7 percent). The adjusted monetary base slumped 7.6 percent at 668.572 trillion yen.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 150 yen-range on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Friday, adding to the gains posted in Thursday's session. With the extended upward move, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 once again reached new record closing highs.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 183.02 points or 1.1 percent to 16,274.94 and the S&P 500 climbed 40.81 points or 0.8 percent to 5,137.08. The narrower Dow posted a more modest gain, rising 90.99 points or 0.2 percent to 39,087.38.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices rose to a four-month high on Friday, buoyed by reports that oil demand surged to a four-year high in 2023 and will hold near that level again this year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April spiked $1.71 or 2.2 percent at $79.97 a barrel, the highest close since November 6, 2023.