Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is modestly higher in choppy trading on Thursday, recouping some of the losses in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 staying above the 27,800 mark, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders are cautious after the steep sell-off in the previous session, even as the yen continues its depreciation.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 38.08 points or 0.14 percent to 27,856.70, after touching a high of 27,891.66 earlier. Japanese stocks closed sharply lower on Wednesday.

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

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is edging up 0.2 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding more than 1 percent, while Advantest is flat.

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

Among the major exporters, Canon and Sony are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.3 percent and Panasonic is flat.

Among the other major gainers, Nintendo is adding more than 3 percent and East Japan Railway is gaining almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Nippon Steel is losing almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 143 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, following the substantial pullback seen in the previous session. The major averages spent the day swinging back and forth across the unchanged line.

The major averages moved to the upside going into the close, managing to end the day in positive territory. While the Nasdaq climbed 86.10 points or 0.7 percent to 11,719.68, the S&P 500 rose 13.32 points or 0.3 percent to 3,946.01 and the Dow inched up 30.12 points or 0.1 percent to 31,135.09.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index slumped by 1.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dove by 1.5 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday amid speculation the Biden administration might consider refilling the country's oil reserve, and on data showing a drop in gasoline stockpiles last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $1.17 or about 1.3 percent at $88.48 a barrel.