TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market has finished higher in six straight sessions, rallying almost 2,250 points or 6.2 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 36,450-point plateau and it's expected to open higher again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with support expected from the oil and technology companies in particular. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.
The Nikkei finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the automobile producers and mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks.
For the day, the index jumped 406.92 points or 1.13 percent to finish at 36,452.30 after trading between 36,040.05 and 36,544.15.
Among the actives, Nissan Motor improved 0.79 percent, while Mazda Motor added 0.66 percent, Toyota Motor gained 0.81 percent, Honda Motor accelerated 0.83 percent, Softbank Group rallied 2.11 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial slumped 1.19 percent, Mizuho Financial tumbled 1.84 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial retreated 1.56 percent, Mitsubishi Electric soared 3.01 percent, Sony Group plunged 2.86 percent, Panasonic Holdings jumped 1.71 percent and Hitachi surged 4.63 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the session, although they came well off the day's highs.
The Dow improved 83.60 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 40,752.96, while the NASDAQ rallied 264.40 points or 1.52 percent to close at 17,710.74 and the S&P 500 added 35.08 points or 0.63 percent to end at 5,604.14.
The early rally on Wall Street came in reaction to upbeat earnings news from software giant Microsoft (MSFT) and Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META), both of which exceeded expectations.
Buying interest waned as the day progressed, however, as traders digested some disappointing economic data, including a Labor Department report showing first-time claims for jobless benefits rose much more than expected last week.
Crude oil saw considerable volatility Thursday but moved sharply higher after President Donald Trump threatened to impose sanctions on any country that purchases Iranian oil. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery jumped $1.03 or 1.8 percent to $59.24 a barrel.
Closer to home, Japan will see March figures for unemployment and April data for monetary base later this morning. The jobless rate is called steady at 2.4 percent, while the jobs-to-applicant ratio is expected to tick higher to 1.25 from 1.24 in February. The monetary base is tipped to fall 2.0 percent on year after dropping 3.2 percent in March.
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