Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading notably higher on Wednesday after opening in the red, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 68,700 level to near all-time highs, with gains in exporters and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in automaker stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 309.80 or 0.45 percent at 69,714.30, after touching a high of 69,736.37 earlier. Japanese stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is declining more than 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is down almost 1 percent and Toyota is losing more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is adding more than 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is gaining almost 2 percent, while Screen Holdings is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding more than 1 percent, Mizuho Financial is advancing almost 3 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining more than 2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.4 percent, while Canon is adding almost 1 percent, Panasonic is advancing almost 3 percent and Sony is edging up 0.1 percent.

Among other major gainers, Lasertec is soaring almost 10 percent, Mercari is jumping almost 6 percent and ZOZO is surging more than 5 percent, while Socionext and Japan Steel Works are advancing almost 5 percent each. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, IHI and Credit Saison are gaining almost 4 percent each, while SMC and CyberAgent are adding more than 3 percent each. Disco and Daiichi Sankyo are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Mitsui Kinzoku is declining almost 4 percent, while Sumco, Omron and Renesas Electronics are losing more than 3 percent each. Sumitomo Electric Industries, Resonac Holdings, Nippon Yusen K.K. and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines are down almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 160 yen-range on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, the major U.S. stock indexes turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday following the strong upward move seen over the past few sessions. While the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 gave back ground, the narrower Dow climbed to a new record closing high.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a significant pullback, slumping 307.60 points or 1.2 percent to 26,376.34. The S&P 500 also fell 42.94 points or 0.6 percent to 7,511.35, but the Dow rose 328.64 points or 0.6 percent to 51,999.67. Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. The French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.6 percent and the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Tuesday as transit disruption concerns faded due to the anticipated U.S.-Iran deal. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $4.90 or 6.07 percent at $75.85 per barrel.