Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - Recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, the Japanese stock market is modestly higher in choppy trading on Thursday after opening in the red, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 35,500 level, amid continued weakness in the yen and as some traders booked profits after the recent market rally.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 99.94 points or 0.28 percent to 35,577.69, after touching a high of 35,633.81 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining almost 3 percent and Honda is adding almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 3 percent, Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.5 percent and Screen Holdings is advancing almost 4 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing almost 1 percent and Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.4 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon is edging up 0.1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is adding more than 3 percent and Panasonic is advancing mroe than 1 percent, while Sony is losing almost 1 percent.

Among other major gainers, Mitsubishi Electric and Bridgestone are gaining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, NEXON is losing almost 4 percent, while Mercari, Resonac Holdings, Yamato Holdings and Shiseido are declining almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the value of core machine orders in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 4.9 percent on month in November, the Cabinet Office said on Thursday - coming in at 816.7 billion yen. That was well shy of expectations for a fall of 0.8 percent following the 0.7 percent increase in October.

On a yearly basis, orders dropped 5.0 percent - again missing forecasts for a gain of 0.2 percent after slipping 2.2 percent in the previous month. For the fourth quarter of 2023, core machine orders are expected to add 0.5 percent on quarter and fall 1.6 percent on year at 2,550.6 billion yen.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 148 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks remained mostly lower throughout the trading day on Wednesday after coming under pressure early in the session. The major averages added to the losses posted during Tuesday's session, with the Dow falling to its lowest closing level in almost a month.

The major averages regained ground going into the close of trading but remained in negative territory. The Dow dipped 94.45 points or 0.3 percent to 37,266.67, the Nasdaq slid 88.73 points or 0.6 percent to 14,855.62 and the S&P 500 fell 26.77 points or 0.6 percent to 4,739.21.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped 1.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slid by 1.1 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices settled higher on Wednesday, although concerns about the outlook for oil demand and a firm dollar limited the uptick in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for February rose $0.16 at $72.56 a barrel.