Despite a weak lead from Wall Street, the Japanese stock market opened higher on Thursday, with investors picking up stocks on the back of the yen's decline against the U.S. dollar. Investors appear to be betting on strong corporate earnings as well.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which opened more than 100 points up at 15,740 and zoomed to 15,942.6 subsequently, is currently trading at 15,890, up 262 points or 1.7 percent from its previous close.
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, up 11.2 percent, is the top gainer in the Nikkei index. Mitsui OSK Lines, Nisshin Steel Holdings, JFE Holdings, Showa Denko KK, T&D Holdings, Oki Electric Industry, Nippon Yusen KK and Ricoh are up 6 to 8 percent.
Mitsubishi Materials Corp., Canon Inc. (CAJ), Fast Retailing, Fujifilm Holdings Corp., Nissan Chemical Industries, Tokyo Electric Power, Mazda Motor and Nippon Electric Glass are trading higher by 4 to 6 percent.
Sony Corp. (SNE) is trading sharply higher on expectations of a sharp jump in sales for financial year 2014.
Konica Minolta, Honda Motor (HMC), Japan Steel Works, Dai-ichi Life Insurance, Komatsu, Pacific Metals, Daikin Industries, Toyota Motor (TM), Panasonic Corp. (PC) and Advantest Corp. (ATE) are also up with sharp gains.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. shares are down more than 6 percent following media reports that the company is planning a share sale.
Tokyo Electron, Sumitomo Realty & Development, Mitsui Fudosan, Tokyo Dome and Hitachi Zosen are down 2 to 3 percent. Shinsei Bank, JGC Corp., Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings and Shionogi are among the other notable losers.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the lower 103 yen range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 103.50 to the U.S. dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan are all trading notably lower. Shanghai and Singapore are down with modest losses, while Malaysia and New Zealand are trading flat.
On Wall Street, stocks ended notably lower on Wednesday, with renewed worries about the Federal Reserve tapering its asset purchase program contributing to the pullback.
The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but still ended the day firmly negative. The Dow closed down 80.4 points or 0.5 percent at 15,307.2, the Nasdaq tumbled 38.8 points or 1.1 percent to 3,463.3 and the S&P 500 slid 13.8 points or 0.8 percent to 1,655.4.
Major European markets ended higher on Wednesday. While the German DAX index advanced by 0.7 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index and the French CAC 40 index gained 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.
U.S. crude oil snapped a four-day gain to end sharply lower on Wednesday, after a weekly oil report from the Energy Information Administration showed crude stockpiles to have dropped lesser than expected, while gasoline stocks rose more than expected.
Crude for July delivery plunged $1.90 or 2 percent to close at $94.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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Market Analysis
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.