TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is rising on Thursday amid optimism that the new Biden administration in the U.S. will announce additional stimulus to spur growth in the world's largest economy.
Investors now look ahead to the Bank of Japan's monetary policy decision due later today. The BoJ is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at -0.1 percent.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 213.45 points or 0.75 percent to 28,736.71, after touching a high of 28,846.15 in early trades. Japanese shares closed lower on Wednesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is rising more than 3 percent and Fast Retailing is adding 0.6 percent. In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are declining more than 1 percent each.
The major exporters are mostly higher despite a stronger yen. Panasonic is rising almost 5 percent, Canon is adding 0.3 percent and Sony is up 0.2 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric is down 0.5 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is up 0.1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is down 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is rising more than 2 percent and Toyota is adding almost 1 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Dentsu Group is gaining almost 6 percent, Minebea Mitsumi is rising almost 5 percent, Mitsubishi Chemical is higher by more than 4 percent and Nippon Express is advancing more than 3 percent.
Conversely, Screen Holdings, Tokai Carbon and Bandai Namco are lower by almost 2 percent each.
In economic news, Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 751.01 billion yen in December. That was shy of expectations for a surplus of 942.8 billion yen but up from 366.8 billion yen in November.
Exports rose 2.0 percent on year at 6.706 trillion yen, missing forecasts for an increase of 2.4 percent following the 4.2 percent decline in the previous month. Imports sank an annual 11.6 percent to 5.955 trillion yen versus expectations for a decline of 14.0 percent following the 11.1 percent drop a month earlier.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid 103 yen-range on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed at new record highs on Wednesday on upbeat corporate earnings results and as former Vice President Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. Biden has called for additional stimulus and an accelerated coronavirus vaccine rollout, which has helped offset concerns about higher taxes and increased regulation under a Democratic administration.
The Dow advanced 257.86 points or 0.8 percent to 31,188.38, the Nasdaq soared 260.07 points or 2 percent to 13,457.25 and the S&P 500 jumped 52.94 points or 1.4 percent to 3,851.85.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on Wednesday. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices rose on Wednesday amid hopes the Joe Biden administration will step up stimulus to boost growth, which in turn will result in increased demand for energy. WTI crude for February ended up $0.26 or about 0.5 percent at $53.24 a barrel on expiration day. WTI crude futures new front-month contract for March settled at $53.31 a barrel, gaining $0.33 or about 0.6 percent for the session.
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