TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - Extending the gains in the previous session, the Japanese market is sharply higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 45,600 level, with gains across most sectors led by exporters and technology stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 705.94 points or 1.57 percent to 45,642.67, after touching a high of 45,742.63 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Thursday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining almost 1 percent and Honda is also adding almost 1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 4 percent, Tokyo Electron is adding more than 2 percent and Screen Holdings is up more than 1 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are gaining more than 1 percent each.
Among the major exporters, Sony is advancing almost 3 percent, Canon is gaining almost 1 percent, Panasonic is surging almost 5 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is adding more than 1 percent.
Among other major gainers, Renesas Electronics and Hitachi are jumping almost 9 percent, while Sumco is soaring more than 7 percent and Tokyo Electric Power is surging almost 6 percent. Mitsui Kinzoku, Fujitsu, Recruit Holdings is gaining more than 4 percent each, while Nitto Denko, M3, Japan Exchange Group and Socionext are adding almost 4 percent each. Sharp is advancing almost 3 percent.
Conversely, Ryohin Keikaku is tumbling almost 8 percent and Nitori Holdings is losing more than 4 percent.
In economic news, the jobless rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent in August, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday. That missed forecasts for 2.4 percent and was up from 2.3 percent in July.
The jobs-to-applicant ratio was 1.20, again missing forecasts for 1.22 - which would have been unchanged from the previous month. The participation rate ticked up to 64.0 from 63.9 a month earlier.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 147 yen-range on Friday.
On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Thursday before once again ending the day mostly higher. With the upward move, the major averages closed higher for the fifth straight session, reaching new record closing highs.
The major averages all finished the day in positive territory. The Nasdaq climbed 88.89 points or 0.4 percent to 22,844.05, the Dow rose 78.62 points or 0.2 percent to 46,519.72 and the S&P 500 inched up 4.15 points or 0.1 percent to 6,715.35.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. The German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.3 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the uptrend and dipped by 0.2 percent.
Crude oil prices tumbled on Thursday on anxiety about the long-term impact of the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, which enters the second day today. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $1.23 or 1.99 percent at $60.55 per barrel.
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