TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is rising and the safe-haven yen weakened on Friday with investor sentiment buoyed by the overnight gains on Wall Street amid indications China is seeking to de-escalate the trade war with the U.S. Investors also digested a raft of mixed local economic data, including upbeat Japanese industrial production data.
Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng indicated China does not currently intend to retaliate against President Donald Trump's latest threat to raise the rate of tariffs on Chinese imports.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 212.96 points or 1.04 percent to 20,673.89, after touching a high of 20,685.69 earlier. Japanese stocks closed marginally lower on Thursday.
The major exporters are higher on a weaker yen. Mitsubishi Electric is rising more than 2 percent, Sony is advancing more than 1 percent, Canon is adding almost 1 percent and Panasonic is rising 0.6 percent.
In the auto sector, Honda Motor is rising more than 1 percent and Toyota Motor is adding 0.3 percent. In the tech space, Advantest is rising more than 3 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding more 1 percent.
Market heavyweight SoftBank is higher by more than 2 percent and Fast Retailing is rising 0.6 percent.
Among oil stocks, Japan Petroleum is advancing almost 2 percent and Inpex is adding more than 1 percent after crude oil prices rose sharply overnight.
Among the major gainers, DIC Corp. is rising more than 5 percent, while Olympus Corp. and Alps Alpine are higher by almost 5 percent each. Japan Steel Works and Yaskawa Electric are gaining more than 4 percent each.
On the flip side, Tokyo Dome is declining almost 2 percent.
In economic news, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a preliminary reading that industrial production in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 1.3 percent on month in July. That beat forecasts for a gain of 0.3 percent following the 3.3 percent drop in June.
The Ministry also said the total value of retail sales in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 2.3 percent on month in July. That missed expectations for a decline of 0.9 percent following the flat reading in June.
The jobless rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.2 percent in July, beneath expectations for 2.3 percent, which would have been unchanged from the June reading. The job-to-applicant ratio was 1.59, also shy of expectations for 1.61 - which again would have been unchanged.
Overall consumer prices in the Tokyo region were up 0.6 percent on year in August, in line with expectations and down from 0.9 percent in July.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 106 yen-range on Friday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed lower on Thursday on the heels of indications China is seeking to de-escalate the trade war with the U.S. Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng indicated China does not currently intend to retaliate against President Donald Trump's latest threat to raise the rate of tariffs on Chinese imports. Trump later told Fox News the U.S. and China are scheduled to hold talks later today at a 'different level,' although he did not clarify what that means.
The Dow surged up 326.15 points or 1.3 percent to 26,362.25, the Nasdaq soared 116.51 points or 1.5 percent to 7,973.39 and the S&P 500 jumped 36.64 points or 1.3 percent at 2,924.58.
The major European markets all moved sharply higher on Thursday. While the French CAC 40 Index surged up by 1.5 percent, the German DAX Index jumped by 1.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 1 percent.
Crude oil prices ended sharply higher on Thursday, extending gains from previous session, amid continued positive reaction to Wednesday's data on crude stockpiles. WTI crude for October ended up $0.93 or 1.7 percent at $56.71 a barrel.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2019 AFX News
