TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is rising on Wednesday despite the mixed cues overnight from Wall Street. Concerns about a new coronavirus strain in the UK was offset by optimism that a new $900 billion relief package will help boost the U.S. economy.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 78.05 points or 0.30 percent to 26,514.44, after climbing to a high of 26,585.21 earlier. The Japanese market hit a three-week low on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is declining more than 1 percent and Fast Retailing is down 0.2 percent. In the tech space, Advantest is rising 0.7 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding 0.4 percent.
The major exporters are mostly lower despite a weaker yen. Panasonic is declining more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 1 percent and Canon is down 0.4 percent, while Sony is adding 0.4 percent.
Among automakers, Honda is declining more than 2 percent and Toyota is down 0.6 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is lower by 0.6 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Chugai Pharmaceutical is rising more than 3 percent and Yaskawa Electric is advancing almost 3 percent. Daiichi Sankyo, Trend Micro, Cyberagent and Kyowa Kirin are all higher by more than 2 percent each.
Conversely, Pacific Metals is tumbling almost 5 percent, while Mitsui E&S and Furukawa Electric are losing more than 4 percent each. Fujikura and IHI Corp. are declining almost 4 percent each.
In economic news, members of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy meeting said that the country's economy is starting to show signs of recovery following the lengthy COVID-19 shutdown, minutes from the central bank's meeting on October 28 and 29 revealed.
The minutes also showed that further coordination of fiscal and monetary policy may be necessary as employment and income remained at low levels due to the shutdown. The country also slipped back into deflation after finally shaking off more than a decade's worth of it not that long ago.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid 103 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed mixed on Tuesday in a lackluster session as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves amid uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following the recent run to record highs. Reports about a new coronavirus strain generated some negative sentiment, although news of the approval of a new stimulus bill helped prop up the markets. The $900 billion relief package includes federal assistance for the unemployed, small businesses and healthcare providers as well as $600 in direct payments to individuals.
While the Nasdaq climbed 65.40 points or 0.5 percent to 12,807.92, the Dow fell 200.94 points or 0.7 percent to 30,015.51 and the S&P 500 dipped 7.66 points or 0.2 percent to 3,687.26.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on Tuesday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index surged up by 1.3 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices declined sharply on Tuesday amid rising worries about the outlook for energy demand due to new restrictions on travel following a surge in coronavirus cases. WTI crude for February ended down $0.95 or about 2 percent at $47.02 a barrel.
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