Japanese Market Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Monday, reversing the losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 nearly 600 points to well above the 45,600 level, with gains across most sectors led by exporters and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 595.09 points or 1.32 percent at 45,640.90, after touching a high of 45,685.76 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.4 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 1 percent and Toyota is adding almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are advancing more than 3 percent each, while Screen Holdings is adding 1.5 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding almost 1 percent, Mizuho Financial is gaining more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.4 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Panasonic is advancing almost 3 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.2 percent, Sony is gaining more than 3 percent and Canon is adding almost 2 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Sumco is jumping almost 11 percent, Taiyo Yuden is soaring almost 8 percent and Lasertec is surging more than 7 percent, while Murata Manufacturing and Omron are advancing more than 6 percent each. Resonac Holdings, Nissan Chemical and Socionext are gaining more than 4 percent each. Renesas Electronics and TDK are adding almost 4 percent each, while Takashimaya, Yaskawa Electric and Sharp are rising more than 3 percent. GS Yuasa is up almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Tokyo Electric Power is losing almost 3 percent.

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

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Friday, adding to the gains posted during Thursday's session. With the continued upward move, the major averages all reached new record closing highs.

The major averages reached new highs late in the session before giving back some ground going into the close. The Nasdaq advanced 160.75 points or 0.7 percent to 22,631.48, the S&P 500 climbed 32.40 points or 0.5 percent to 6,664.36 and the Dow rose 172.85 points or 0.4 percent to 46,315.27.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved modestly lower over the course of the session. While the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices dropped on Friday as traders dissected the Federal Reserve's message, hinting at underlying risks to the economy and stoking demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.91 or 1.43 percent at $62.66 per barrel.