TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is advancing on Wednesday, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 reaching above the 29,400 level after hovering around the unchanged line. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 59.78 points or 0.20 percent to 29,467.95, after touching a high of 29,538.76 in early trades. Japanese shares ended lower on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is declining almost 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is adding more tha 2 percent, while Toyota is edging down 0.1 percent.
In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is lower by more than 2 percent and Advantest is down almost 3 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are relatively flat.
The major exporters are lower even as the yen fell to a four-month low against the U.S. dollar. Panasonic is declining almost 2 percent and Sony is down nearly 1 percent. Canon is edging up 0.6 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.6 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Kobe Steel is gaining more than 7 percent and JFE Holdings is adding almost 5 percent, while Kawasaki Heavy Industries, IHI Corp. and Kyowa Kirin are up more than 4 percent each. AGC Inc., Mitsui E&S Holdings, NTN Corp. Hitachi Hosen and Nippon Steel are rising almost 4 percent each.
Conversely, Fujitsu and Kubota are losing almost 4 percent, while Toto, Z Holdings, Nexon and M3 are lower by more than 2 percent.
In economic news, the services sector in Japan continued to contract in February, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from au Jibun Bank revealed on Wednesday, with a services PMI score of 46.3. That's up from 46.1 in January, although it remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the composite index rose from 47.1 to 48.2 in February.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 106 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, partly offsetting the rally seen in the previous session. The major averages all moved to the downside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly steep drop.
The major averages came under pressure going into the close, ending the day just off their lows of the session. The Dow fell 143.99 points or 0.5 percent to 31,391.52, the Nasdaq tumbled 230.04 points or 1.7 percent to 13,358.79 and the S&P 500 slid 31.53 points or 0.8 percent to 3,870.29.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside over the course of the session. While the German DAX Index edged up by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.4 percent.
Crude oil prices drifted lower Tuesday ahead of the upcoming OPEC meeting that may see the group hike production. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $0.89 or 1.5 percent at $59.75 a barrel.
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