TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is notably higher after recouping early losses on Wednesday, after the slight losses of the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei index just below the 29,000 mark, despite the lack of cues overnight from Wall Street. Traders also continue to be cautious after the government extended the COVID-19 state of emergency to contain the spread of the highly contagious variants of the virus.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 54.66 points or 0.19 percent to 28,869.00, after hitting a low of 28,565.83 and a high of 28,930.46 in early trades. Japanese stocks closed slightly lower on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 4 percent and Toyota is adding more than 1 percent.
In the tech space, Screen Holdings is losing more than 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is down almost 1 percent, while Advantest is edging up 0.1 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are gaining more than 1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding almost 2 percent.
Among the major exporters, Panasonic is gaining more than 1 percent, Sony is edging up 0.5 percent and Canon is adding almost 1 percent. Mitsubishi Electric is rising almost 3 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Kyowa Kirin and Japan Steel Works are gaining more than 6 percent each, while West Japan Railway and Tokai Carbon are up almost 5 percent each. Keisei Electric Railway, Inpex and JTEKT are adding more than 4 percent, while Honda Motor, Nikon, Tokyu Fudosan Holdings, Mazda Motor, Toray Industries, Mitsui E&S Holdings and Mitsui Fudosan are rising almost 4 percent each. Asahi Kasei and Sumitomo Realty & Development are up more than 3 percent each.
Conversely, Olympus is losing almost 4 percent and Tokyo Gas is down more than 2 percent, while Amada, Pacific Metals, Daikin, Meiji, Terumo and Chugai Pharmaceutical are declining almost 2 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 109 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher at the start of trading on Tuesday but failed to sustain the upward move and spent the rest of the day showing a lack of direction. The major averages eventually ended the session near the unchanged line.
After jumping by more than 300 points in early trading, the Dow ended the day up just 45.86 points or 0.1 percent at 34,575.31. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq slipped 12.26 points or 0.1 percent to 13,736.48 and the S&P 500 edged down 2.07 points or 0.1 percent to 4,202.04.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.8 percent and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.7 percent.
Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday amid optimism for a strong global economic recovery and increased demand following a drop in fresh coronavirus cases and the acceleration in the vaccination drive. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July jumped $1.40 or 2.1 percent at $67.72 a barrel, the highest since October 2018.
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