The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is surging more than 4 percent to above the 55,700 level, with gains across all sectors led by index heavyweights, exporters and technology stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 2,282.60 or 4.27 percent at 55,712.16, after touching a high of 55,992.90 earlier. Japanese stocks ended slightly higher Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is surging more than 6 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is adding more than 2 percent and Toyota is gaining almost 4 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is jumping more than 10 percent, Screen Holdings is surging almost 8 percent and Tokyo Electron is advancing almost 9 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are advancing more than 4 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 3 percent.
Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is advancing almost 4 percent, Canon is gaining almost 1 percent, Panasonic is surging more than 5 percent and Sony is adding more than 3 percent.
Among other major gainers, Furukawa Electric is soaring almost 14 percent and Kioxia Holdings is jumping more than 13 percent, Sumitomo Electric Industries is surging more than 10 percent and Fujikura is advancing almost 10 percent, while Renesas Electronics, Resonac Holdings, Mitsubishi Chemical Group, Ebara and Mitsui Chemicals are rising more than 8 percent each. Ibiden, Disco and Mitsui Kinzoku are gaining almost 8 percent each, while Yokohama Rubber is adding more than 7 percent.
Conversely, Inpex is declining more than 5 percent, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines is losing more than 4 percent, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is down almost 4 percent, Nippon Yusen K.K. is slipping more than 3 percent and Idemitsu Kosan is sliding almost 3 percent.
In economic news, Japan posted a current account surplus of 3.933 trillion yen in February, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. That exceeded forecasts for 3.549 trillion yen and was up from the downwardly revised 931 billion yen surplus in January (originally 942 billion yen).
Exports were up 2.8 percent on year at 9.372 trillion yen and imports rose an annual 9.7 percent to 9.104 trillion yen for a trade surplus of 267.6 billion yen. The capital account saw a deficit of 29.6 billion yen and the financial account had a surplus of 4.242 trillion yen.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 158 yen-range on Wednesday.
On the Wall Street, stocks regained ground over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after coming under pressure early in the session. The major averages climbed well off their lows of the session before eventually closing narrowly mixed.
The Nasdaq inched up 21.51 points or 0.1 percent to 22,017.85 and the S&P 500 crept up 5.02 points or 0.1 percent to 6,616.85, while the narrower Dow dipped 85.42 points or 0.2 percent to 46,584.46.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slumped 1.1 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.8 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.7 percent.
Crude oil prices have inched higher on Tuesday as Iran remains unresponsive to U.S. threats to open up the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $0.65 or 0.58 percent at $113.06 per barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Sharply Higher; Up 4.3%
2026-04-08 01:27:53
