TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Wednesday, with the overnight gains on Wall Street and a weaker yen boosting sentiment.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 65.19 points or 0.31 percent to 20,909.64, after touching a high of 20,954.70 earlier. Japanese shares closed modestly lower on Tuesday.
The major exporters are mostly higher on a weaker yen. Panasonic is gaining almost 4 percent, Canon is rising 0.4 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.1 percent, while Sony is declining more than 4 percent.
In the tech sector, Advantest is adding 0.5 percent, while Tokyo Electron is down 0.3 percent. Among the major automakers, Toyota is edging up 0.1 percent, while Honda is losing 0.4 percent.
In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is up 0.1 percent, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is rising 0.4 percent. In the oil space, Japan Petroleum is declining 0.6 percent and Inpex is losing 0.5 percent after crude oil prices declined overnight.
Among the other major gainers, Yamaha Corp. is gaining more than 12 percent and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is rising more than 8 percent. Pacific Metals and Shiseido Co. are higher by more than 7 percent each.
On the flip side, NTT Data is losing more than 9 percent, while Dena Co. and Nichirei Corp. are lower by more than 5 percent each. Marui Group is declining more than 4 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 109 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks extended gains to close higher on Tuesday, partly attributed to news of a meeting between Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and President Donald Trump on Monday, which eased concerns about relations between the central bank chief and the president. Upbeat fourth-quarter results from Google parent Alphabet also boosted sentiment.
The Dow climbed 172.15 points or 0.7 percent to 25,411.52, the Nasdaq advanced 54.55 points or 0.7 percent to 7,402.08 and the S&P 500 rose 12.83 points or 0.5 percent to 2,737.70.
The major European markets moved sharply higher on Tuesday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index surged up by 2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both jumped by 1.7 percent.
Crude oil futures drifted lower on Tuesday as concerns about energy demand resurfaced after data showed a drop in U.S. services sector activity. WTI crude for March ended down $0.90 or 1.7 percent at $53.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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