Japanese Market Rallies After Five-Day Losing Streak
The Japanese market showed a significant rebound on Thursday, breaking a five-session losing streak. The positive momentum was driven by the strong performance of Wall Street overnight, as well as a surge in technology and financial stocks. Traders were also quick to seize the opportunity to buy stocks at discounted prices following the recent slump.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index soared by 315.22 points or 1.03 percent to reach 30,842.10, after briefly touching a high of 30,845.33 earlier in the day. This impressive recovery comes after Japanese stocks experienced a sharp decline just a day prior.
Market heavyweights SoftBank Group and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing experienced minor movements, with SoftBank Group edging down 0.1 percent and Fast Retailing edging up 0.5 percent. On the other hand, automakers Toyota and Honda witnessed substantial gains, with Toyota rising nearly 3 percent and Honda adding over 1 percent.
In the technology sector, Advantest gained 3.5 percent, Tokyo Electron increased by over 1 percent, and Screen Holdings advanced almost 2 percent.
The banking sector also contributed to the overall positive sentiment, as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial gained nearly 3 percent, Mizuho Financial advanced almost 2 percent, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial added more than 2 percent.
Among the major exporters, Canon rose by almost 1 percent, Sony gained nearly 2 percent, and Mitsubishi Electric increased by more than 1 percent. However, Panasonic experienced a slight decline of 0.4 percent.
Several other companies also witnessed notable gains. Japan Exchange Group surged more than 5 percent, Aozora Bank gained almost 4 percent, and Daiwa Securities, Chubu Electric Power, and Nippon Paper Industries each added more than 3 percent. Shizuoka Financial, Mitsubishi Estate, ANA Holdings, Ajinomoto, Mitsui Fudosan, Concordia Financial, Japan Airlines, and Yamaha Motor all advanced by almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Taiyo Yuden recorded a loss of almost 7 percent, while Inpex declined by 3.5 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar was trading in the lower 148 yen-range on Thursday.
Looking at Wall Street, stocks initially displayed a lackluster performance early in the session but eventually turned mostly higher. The major averages closed firmly positive, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the way by jumping 1.4 percent to reach 13,236.01. The S&P 500 advanced 0.8 percent to 4,263.75, and the Dow rose 0.4 percent to 33,129.55.
Meanwhile, the major European markets had a mixed performance. While the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index closed nearly unchanged, and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.8 percent.
In the commodities market, crude oil prices plummeted on Wednesday due to concerns about the outlook for demand amidst worries about an economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended the day lower by $5.01 or 5.6 percent at $84.22 a barrel.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official views of Nasdaq, Inc.