Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - Adding to the gains in the previous four sessions, the Japanese market is notably higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 40,100 level, as traders remain cautious ahead of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy decision later in the day.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 165.82 points or 0.41 percent to 40,124.77, after touching a high of 40,192.66 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging down 0.2 percent and Honda is flat.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are losing almost 1 percent each, while Screen Holdings is down more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is gaining more than 1 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Sony is losing almost 2 percent and Panasonic is edging down 0.5 percent, while Canon and Mitsubishi Electric are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Among other major gainers, Sumitomo Pharma is soaring almost 7 percent, while Sapporo Holdings and DeNA are surging almost 6 percent each. Kanadevia and Mitsui Fudosan are gaining more than 4 percent each, while Oriental Land is adding almost 4 percent. Tokyo Electric Power and JGC Holdings are advancing more than 3 percent each. Sumitomo Realty & Development, Sumitomo Chemical, Yokogawa Electric, Mitsubishi Estate and Toho are all up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Disco is plunging almost 8 percent, Mitsubishi Motors is losing almost 5 percent and Nidec is declining more than 4 percent.

In economic news, Japan's core consumer price index, which excludes fresh food but includes fuel costs, increased by 3 percent on year in December 2024, marking the highest level since August 2023. The figure also accelerated from a 2.7 percent rise in November and matched market expectations.

Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to contract in January, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Friday with a manufacturing PMI score of 48.8. That's down from 49.6 in December and it moved further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the services PMI improved to 52.7 in January from 50.9 in December.

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

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday, extending the strong upward move seen over the past several sessions. The S&P 500 closed higher for the seventh time in the past eight sessions, reaching a new record closing high.

The major averages reached new highs going into the close of trading. The Dow jumped 408.34 points or 0.9 percent to 44,565.07, the S&P 500 climbed 32.34 points or 0.5 percent to 6,118.71 and the Nasdaq rose 44.34 points or 0.2 percent at 20,051.68.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both climbed by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Thursday after data showed crude inventories in the U.S. fell less than expected last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March closed down $0.82 or about 1.1 percent at $74.62 a barrel.