Japanese Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - Extending the gains in the previous session, the Japanese market is slightly higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 39,900 level, with gains in exporters and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 12.14 points or 0.03 percent to 39,913.33, after touching a high of 40,087.59 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing almost 1 percent and Honda is flat.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 3 percent, Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.2 percent and Screen Holdings is declining almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Sony is losing more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is down almost 1 percent and Panasonic is edging down 0.4 percent, while Canon is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among other major gainers, Hitachi is gaining more than 3 percent, while Ryohin Keikaku and Sumitomo Pharma are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Disco is tumbling more than 7 percent and Seven & I Holdings is losing almost 3 percent.

In economic news, Japan's core consumer price index, which excludes fresh food but includes energy, rose 3.3 percent year-on-year in June, marking a slowdown for the first time since February, following a 3.7 percent increase in the previous month, and matching market forecasts.

Japan's annual inflation rate also eased to 3.3 percent in June from the 3.5 percent in the previous month, marking the lowest reading since last November. Monthly, the CPI edged up 0.1 percent, after a 0.3 percent increase in May.

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

On Wall Street, stocks saw further upside during trading on Thursday after moving modestly higher over the course of the previous session. With the continued upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs.

The major averages ended the session near their best levels of the day. The Nasdaq advanced 153.78 points or 0.7 percent to 20,884.27, the S&P 500 climbed 33.66 points or 0.5 percent to 6,297.36 and the Dow rose 229.71 points or 0.5 percent to 44,484.49.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index jumped by 1.3 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices increased on Thursday as fresh tension brewing in the Middle East generated demand, while a drop in U.S. inventories was seen as reflecting robust summer demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery surged $1.16 to settle at $67.54 per barrel.