Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading modestly higher on Monday after briefly slipping into the red, reversing the losses in the previous session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving to near the 39,200 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday, with gains in some index heavyweights and automakers partially offset by weakness in technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 94.79 or 0.24 percent at 39,185.96, after touching a high of 39,332.55 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is losing 1.5 percent and Advantest is declining almost 5 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.2 percent. Mizuho Financial is flat.

The major exporters are mixed. Panasonic and Sony are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Canon is edging up 0.5 percent. Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 1 percent.

Among other major gainers, Rakuten Group is surging more than 7 percent, while Yamato Holdings and Nomura Research Institute are gaining almost 5 percent each. BANDAI NAMCO, Recruit Holdings and NEXON are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, ZOZO is losing almost 3 percent.

In economic news, Japan's gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent on quarter in the third quarter of 2024, the Cabinet Office said on Monday - exceeding expectations for an increase of 0.2 percent following the upwardly revised 0.5 percent increase in the three months prior (originally 0.2 percent). On an annualized basis, GDP rose 1.2 percent - beating forecasts for a 0.9 percent gain, which would have been unchanged.

Capital expenditure was down 0.1 percent on quarter, but that also beat forecasts for a decline of 0.2 percent - which would have been unchanged from Q2. External demand was down 0.1 percent on quarter, while the GDP price index climbed an annual 2.4 percent and private consumption was up 0.7 percent on quarter.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 149 yen-range on Monday.

On Wall Street, stock indexes all moved to the upside early in the session on Friday but turned mixed over the course of the trading day. While the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 managed to remain in positive territory and reach new record closing highs, the narrower Dow pulled back into negative territory.

The major averages turned in a mixed performance. The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the session near its best levels of the day, climbing 159.05 points or 0.8 percent to 19,859.77. The S&P 500 also rose 15.16 points or 0.3 percent to 6,090.27, but the Dow fell 123.19 points or 0.3 percent to 44,642.52

The major European markets also ended the day mixed. The French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.3 percent and the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent, but the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Friday, weighed down by prospects of excess supply in the market. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January shed $1.10 or 1.61 percent at $67.20 a barrel. WTI crude futures fell nearly 1 percent in the week.