TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market opened lower on Wednesday and the safe-haven yen strengthened despite the overnight gains on Wall Street, as worries about rising U.S.-China tensions more than offset optimism about the reopening of economies. However, the market has since recovered and is now modestly higher.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 97.01 points or 0.46 percent to 21,368.18, after touching a low of 21,142.72 in early trades. Japanese shares hit a near three-month high on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is adding 0.2 percent, while Fast Retailing is down 0.4 percent.
The major exporters are higher despite a stronger yen. Mitsubishi Electric is rising more than 2 percent, Panasonic is higher by 2 percent, Canon is adding 0.5 percent and Sony is edging up 0.1 percent.
In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is losing almost 3 percent and Advantest is declining almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda Motor is rising more than 2 percent, while Toyota is edging down 0.1 percent.
In the oil sector, Inpex and Japan Petroleum are rising more than 2 percent each after crude oil prices gained more than 3 percent overnight.
Among the other major gainers, Nippon Sheet Glass is climbing more than 5 percent, while T&D Holdings and Dai-ichi Life Holdings are gaining almost 4 percent each. Shizuoka Bank, Fukuoka Financial Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are all rising more than 3 percent each.
On the flip side, Idemitsu Kosan is losing more than 6 percent, M3 is lower by more than 4 percent and West Japan Railway is declining more than 2 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid 107 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed higher on Tuesday, fueled by optimism for a possible vaccine for the Covid-19 virus as U.S. biotech company Novavax said it started the first human study of its experimental coronavirus vaccine and that it expects initial results on safety and immune responses in July. There was also a positive reaction to news that several states are continuing to relax lockdown restrictions and reopening more businesses.
The Dow surged 529.95 points or 2.17 percent to finish at 24,995.11, while the Nasdaq added 15.63 points or 0.17 percent to 9,340.22 and the S&P 500 rose 36.32 points or 1.23 percent to end at 2,991.77.
The major European markets also ended on a firm note on Tuesday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 1.24 percent, Germany's DAX advanced 1 percent and France's CAC 40 surged up 1.46 percent.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Tuesday amid rising optimism that relaxation in lockdown restrictions in several countries across the world will help fuel energy demand. Also, with OPEC and its allies committed to a significant reduction in crude outputs, concerns about demand-supply mismatch appear to be easing now. WTI crude for July rose $1.10 or about 3.3 percent at $34.35 a barrel.
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