TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is rising and the safe-haven yen weakened on Thursday following the tech-led rebound overnight on Wall Street. Upbeat Japanese core machine orders data for July also boosted sentiment.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 171.19 points or 0.74 percent to 23,203.73, after touching a high of 23,242.78 earlier. Japanese stocks closed lower on Wednesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is adding 0.4 percent and Fast Retailing is edging up 0.2 percent.
The major exporters are mostly higher on a weaker yen. Sony is rising almost 3 percent, Panasonic is higher by almost 2 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is advancing more than 1 percent, while Canon is down 0.2 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is adding 0.6 percent, while Tokyo Electron is down 0.2 percent despite the rebound in U.S. tech stocks overnight. In the financial sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding 0.6 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is higher by 0.5 percent.
Among automakers, Toyota is higher by almost 1 percent and Honda is up 0.5 percent. In the oil sector, Japan Petroleum is rising almost 2 percent and Inpex is advancing almost 1 percent.
NTT Docomo has stopped allowing customers to newly link its e-money service with their accounts at regional banks and Japan Post Bank after cases of improper money withdrawals emerged. Shares of NTT Docomo are down 0.3 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Rakuten is gaining more than 8 percent, Mitsui OSK Lines is rising almost 8 percent and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is higher by more than 6 percent. Nippon Yusen is advancing more than 5 percent.
In economic news, the Cabinet Office said that the total value of core machine orders in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 6.3 percent on month in July, standing at 751.3 billion yen. That beat expectations for an increase of 1.9 percent following the 7.6 percent decline in June.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 106 yen-range on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed higher on Wednesday following the sell-off seen over the three previous sessions, as some traders looked to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels. Technology stocks showed a substantial rebound on the day after leading the markets lower over the past few sessions. Semiconductor and gold stocks also rose notably.
The Dow jumped 439.58 points or 1.6 percent to 27,940.47, the Nasdaq soared 293.87 points or 2.7 percent to 11,141.56 and the S&P 500 surged up 67.12 points or 2 percent to 3,398.96.
The major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on Wednesday. While the German DAX Index surged up by 2.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both jumped by 1.4 percent.
Crude oil prices rebounded strongly on Wednesday after tumbling a session earlier, amid hopes the U.S. inventory data for last week will show a drop in stockpiles. WTI crude for October ended up $1.29 or about 3.5 percent at $38.05 a barrel.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2020 AFX News
