TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is advancing on Thursday following the positive cues overnight from Wall Street amid optimism about more U.S. fiscal stimulus. U.S. President Donald Trump said he would support individual stimulus measures after calling off negotiations over a broader relief package.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 142.68 points or 0.61 percent to 23,565.50, off a high of 23,569.15. Japanese stocks closed little changed on Wednesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is adding 0.6 percent and Fast Retailing is up 0.3 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is rising more than 3 percent and Tokyo Electron is advancing more than 2 percent.
Meanwhile, the major exporters are mostly lower despite a weaker yen. Canon is declining 0.4 percent, while Panasonic and Sony are down 0.2 percent each. Mitsubishi Electric is adding 0.4 percent.
Among banks, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is down 0.2 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding 0.2 percent. Among the major automakers, Toyota is advancing almost 1 percent, while Honda is declining 0.2 percent.
In the oil sector, Japan Petroleum is higher by almost 2 percent, while Inpex is edging down 0.1 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Screen Holdings is gaining almost 6 percent and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is rising more than 4 percent. Fujikura and Credit Saison are higher by more than 3 percent each.
Conversely, Aeon is losing almost 4 percent and Kikkoman Corp. is lower by 2 percent.
On the economic front, the Ministry of Finance said that Japan posted a current account surplus of 2,102.8 billion yen in August, down 1.5 percent on year. That exceeded expectations for a surplus of 1,983.7 billion yen following the 1,468.3 billion yen surplus in July.
Exports were down 15.5 percent on year at 5.124 trillion yen, while imports sank an annual 22.0 percent to 4.711 trillion yen.
The trade surplus was 413 billion yen, up from 137.3 billion yen in the previous month.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 106 yen-range on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed sharply higher on Wednesday, reacting to President Donald Trump's tweet that raised hopes of a smaller aid package sometime soon. Trump indicated he would support individual stimulus measures after calling off negotiations over a broader relief package.
The Dow ended up 530.70 points or 1.91 percent at 28,303.46, the Nasdaq climbed 210 points or 1.88 percent to settle at 11,364.60 and the S&P 500 moved up 58.49 points or 1.74 percent to 3,419.44.
The major European markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday in choppy trade. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged down 0.06 percent and France's CAC 40 declined 0.27 percent, while Germany's DAX moved up 0.17 percent.
Crude oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday as hopes about a new stimulus package faded after U.S. President Donald Trump halted negotiations with Democrats, and data showed an increase in crude stockpiles last week. WTI crude futures ended down $0.72 or about 1.8 percent at $39.95 a barrel.
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