Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is notably higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous four sessions, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 moving to a tad below the 32,800 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, boosted by gains in exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 162.40 points or 0.50 percent to 32,781.74, after touching a high of 32,804.01 earlier. Japanese stocks closed significantly higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is also edging down 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.3 percent. In the tech space, Advantest, Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining more than 1 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are adding almost 2 percent each.

Among major exporters, Sony is gaining more than 3 percent and Panasonic is adding almost 3 percent, while Canon and Mitsubishi Electric are edging up 0.3 percent each. Among other major gainers, Kobe Steel is gaining more than 4 percent, while Sharp and Recruit Holdings are adding more than 3 percent each. Teijin, JTEKT and Taisei are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to contract in August, and at a steady pace, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Friday with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.6. That's unchanged from the July reading and it remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 145 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks gave back ground over the course of the trading session on Thursday after failing to sustain an early move to the upside. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session, with the Dow and the S&P 500 ending the day in negative territory.

The Dow jumped by nearly 180 points in early trading but ended the day down 168.33 points or 0.5 percent at 34,721.91. The S&P 500 also slipped 7.21 points or 0.2 percent to 4,507.66, while the Nasdaq inched up 15.66 points or 0.1 percent to 14,034.97 closing higher for the fifth straight session.

The major European markets also turned mixed on the day. While the German DAX Index rose by 0.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.5 percent and the French CAC 40 Index declined by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil moved sharply higher on Thursday, advancing for the sixth consecutive session following another steep drop in U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate for October delivery surged $2 or 2.5 percent to $83.63 a barrel, a three-week closing high.