Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is trading modestly higher on Thursday after opening in the red, reversing some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 39,800 level, with gains in technology stocks and a mixed performance in most other sectors.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 70.12 points or 0.18 percent to 39,832.60, after touching a high of 39,844.67 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably lower on Wednesday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Screen Holdings is advancing more than 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.1 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony is losing almost 1 percent, while Canon is gaining almost 1 percent and Panasonic is edging up 0.2 percent. Mitsubishi Electric is flat.

Among other major gainers, Minebea Mitsumi and JFE Holdings are surging almost 5 percent each, while Japan Steel Works and Dowa Holdings are gaining more than 4 percent each. Sumitomo Metal Mining and Socionext are adding almost 4 percent each, while Nippon Steel, Renesas Electronics, Konica Minolta and Kobe Steel are up more than 3 percent each. NTN, Mazda Motor, Sumitomo Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Materials are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Ryohin Keikaku and NH Foods are losing more than 4 percent.

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

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 moving back to the upside following the pullback seen during Tuesday's trading. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 more than offset yesterday's losses, once again reaching new record closing highs.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 190.24 points or 0.9 percent to 20,393.13 and the S&P 500 climbed 29.41 points or 0.5 percent to 6,227.42, although the narrower Dow edged down 10.52 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 44,484.42.

The major European markets were also mixed on the day. The French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.0 percent and the German DAX Index rose by 0.5 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the uptrend and edged down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices made sharp gains on Wednesday, even as the Israel-Iran ceasefire holds, as Iran has challenged the IAEA's power to inspect its nuclear sites without its security council's approval. A falling US dollar also offered support for oil. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for August delivery closed up by $2.00 to settle at $67.45 per barrel.