Japanese Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading modestly higher on Monday, reversing the losses in the previous session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 38,700 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street cues on Friday, with gains in index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 74.30 or 0.19 percent at 38,720.41, after touching a high of 38,802.74 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Friday.

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

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is advancing more than 3 percent and Advantest is gaining more than 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.3 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.1 percent.

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

Among other major gainers, Kansai Electric Power is surging more than 5 percent, while Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Renesas Electronics and Kawasaki Heavy Industries are gaining more than 4 percent each. Japan Steel Works is adding almost 4 percent, while Nippon Yusen K.K., Furukawa Electric, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines are up more than 3 percent each. Fujikura and Fuji Electric are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, NEXON is losing almost 5 percent, CyberAgent is sliding almost 4 percent, LY is declining more than 3 percent and Hoya is down almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 156 yen-range on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Friday following the downturn seen over the course of the previous session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the rebound, surging to a new record closing high.

The Nasdaq jumped 184.76 points or 1.1 percent to 16,920.94 and the S&P 500 climbed 36.88 points or 0.7 percent to 5,304.72, while the narrower Dow ended the day roughly flat, inching up just 4.33 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 39,069.59.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, although the German DAX Index closed just above the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices moved higher Friday, snapping a four-day losing streak despite concerns about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July ended higher by $0.85 at $77.72 a barrel; for the week, WTI crude futures slumped 3 percent.