Japanese Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading slightly higher on Wednesday, adding to the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 38,800 level, with gains in gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 56.44 or 0.15 percent at 38,854.81, after touching a high of 39,118.95 earlier. Japanese stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 3 percent and Toyota is adding more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Screen Holdings is losing more than 2 percent.

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

Among the major exporters, Canon is losing more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is declining almost 4 percent, while Sony is gaining more than 1 percent and Panasonic is skyrocketing more than 12 percent after raising its earnings outlook for its energy division and announcing plans for management reform.

Among other major gainers, Nissan Motor and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha are gaining more than 4 percent each, while Tokyo Tatemono is adding almost 4 percent. Furukawa Electric, Resona Holdings and Nippon Yusen K.K are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Isetan Mitsukoshi is plunging more than 6 percent and Nichirei is losing almost 6 percent, while Yamato Holdings and Astellas Pharma are slipping more than 3 percent each. Yokogawa Electric, Socionext and Kyocera are declining almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the services sector in Japan continued to expand in January, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 53.0. That's up from 50.9 in December and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid-153 yen-range on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday, largely offsetting the weakness seen in the previous session. The major averages all moved to the upside on the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the charge.

The major averages finished the session just off their best levels of the day. The Nasdaq jumped 262.06 points or 1.4 percent to 19,654.02, the S&P 500 climbed 43.31 points or 0.7 percent to 6,037.88 and the Dow rose 134.13 points or 0.3 percent to 44,556.04.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slipped 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index rose 0.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday as Trump agreed to postpone levies on Canada and Mexico's exports to the United States. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled at $72.70 a barrel, down $0.46 or about $0.63 percent.