Japanese Market Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Monday, reversing the losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 surging almost 2.5 percent to well above the 48,700 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 1,166.13 points or 2.45 percent at 48,748.28, after touching a high of 48,805.03 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 2 percent and Toyota is adding almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 2 percent, Tokyo Electron is advancing almost 4 percent and Screen Holdings is adding almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is advancing almost 4 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Panasonic and Sony are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric and Canon are advancing more than 2 percent each.

Among the other major gainers, Yaskawa Electric is soaring more than 7 percent and Fanuc is surging almost 6 percent, while Lasertec and NEXON are gaining more than 5 percent each. Recruit Holdings is adding more than 4 percent, while Keyence, NEC and Nissan Motor are advancing almost 4 percent each. Resona Holdings, SMC and Kyowa Kirin are up more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Ryohin Keikaku is declining more than 4 percent and Sumitomo Metal Mining is losing almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 151 yen-range on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Friday after showing a lack of direction early in the session. The major averages all moved to the upside, regaining ground following the downturn seen in the previous session.

The major averages finished the day off their highs of the session but still firmly in positive territory. The Dow advanced 238.37 points or 0.5 percent to 46,190.61, the Nasdaq climbed 117.44 points or 0.5 percent to 22,679.97 and the S&P 500 rose 34.94 points or 0.5 percent to 6,664.01.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index tumbled 1.8 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.9 percent and the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices rose on Friday after Trump suddenly reversed his hardline stance on China, suggesting warmer trade relations could lead to an increase in energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up by $0.20 or 0.35 percent at $57.66 per barrel.