TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese market is notably higher on Thursday, extending the strong gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 48,000 mark, with gains in financial, automaker and technology stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 357.94 points or 0.75 percent to 48,030.61, after touching a high of 48,201.50 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Wednesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is surging more than 4 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining almost 2 percent and Honda is edging up 0.3 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is edging down 0.5 percent, while Screen Holdings is gaining almost 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding more than 3 percent.
In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 2 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding more than 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is advancing more than 2 percent.
Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are edging up 0.2 percent each, while Panasonic and Canon are flat.
Among other major gainers, Renesas Electronics is jumping almost 6 percent and Socionext is surging more than 5 percent, while Tokyo Electric Power and Furukawa Electric are gaining more than 4 percent each. Chiba Bank, Taisei, Aeon and Japan Exchange are advancing almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, BayCurrent is tumbling more than 8 percent and Toho is losing almost 5 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 150 yen-range on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks showed wild swings over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, extending the substantial volatility seen during the previous session. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.
While the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ended the day firmly in positive territory, the narrower Dow posted a slim loss. The Dow edged down 17.15 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 46,253.31, but the S&P 500 rose 26.75 points or 0.4 percent to 6,671.06 and the Nasdaq climbed 148.38 points or 0.7 percent to 22,679.08.
The major European markets also turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index surged by 2.0 percent, the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.3 percent.
Crude oil prices fell on Wednesday following the rapid escalation of friction between the U.S. and China, while oversupply concerns also loom. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $0.33 or 0.56 percent at $58.37 per barrel.
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