(RTTNews) – The Japanese stock market is sharply higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark Nikkei index adding almost 500 points to move above the 27,500 level, following the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, with gains across most sectors, particularly technology and financials.
Lingering concerns about the impact of the rapid spread of the coronavirus Omicron variant remain. Tokyo and 33 of the 47 prefectures have been placed under a quasi-state of emergency last week.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 465.25 points or 1.72 percent at 27,543.73, after touching a high of 27,549.66 earlier. Japanese stocks closed modestly higher on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is flat. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 2 percent and Toyota is adding almost 2 percent.
In the tech space, Screen Holdings is gaining more than 4 percent, Advantest is adding more than 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is advancing almost 3 percent.
In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are adding 1.5 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining more than 2 percent.
Among the major exporters, Panasonic is gaining almost 2 percent, Sony is adding almost 4 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is up almost 2 percent, while Canon is flat.
Among the other major gainers, Nomura Holdings, CyberAgent and Pacific Metals are surging almost 7 percent each, while Fujitsu, Keyence and Z Holdings are gaining almost 6 percent each. Shionogi & Co., Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, ANA Holdings, Shin-Etsu Chemical, Sumco and Isuzu Motors are adding almost 5 percent each, while Mitsubishi Motors, NTN and NSK are advancing more than 4 percent each.
Conversely, Konica Minolta is losing almost 5 percent and Nichirei is down almost 4 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 114 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction throughout much of the trading session on Tuesday but managed to end the day mostly higher. With the upward move, the major averages added to the strong gains posted in the two previous sessions.
The major averages moved to the upside going into the close, ending the session near their best levels of the day. The Dow advanced 273.38 points or 0.8 percent to 35,405.24, the Nasdaq climbed 106.12 points or 0.8 percent to 14,346.00 and the S&P 500 rose 30.99 points or 0.7 percent at 4,546.54.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 surged up by 1.4 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both jumped by 1 percent.
Crude oil prices settled slightly higher on Tuesday, with traders largely making cautious moves ahead of the OPEC+ meeting. Investors also kept an eye on developments in the Ukraine for direction. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March edged up by $0.05 or 0.06% at $88.20 a barrel.
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