The Japanese stock market recovered after a weak start and is modestly higher on Thursday, following the overnight gains on Wall Street and a weaker yen.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 38.79 points or 0.20 percent to 19,904.61, after touching a low of 19,845.88 earlier.
Among the major exporters, Panasonic is advancing more than 1 percent and Canon is up 0.2 percent, while Sony is losing 3 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is down 0.2 percent.
Toshiba said it has decided to sign a memorandum of understanding with a consortium led by U.S. investment fund Bain Capital to negotiate the sale of its flash memory unit, Toshiba Memory Corp. However, shares of Toshiba are losing more than 2 percent.
Among automakers, Toyota is adding 0.2 percent and Honda is flat. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are up 0.2 percent each.
In the oil space, Inpex and Japan Petroleum Exploration are rising more than 1 percent each on higher crude oil prices.
Among the best performers, Toray Industries is rising almost 4 percent, while Sumco Corp. and Ube Industries are advancing more than 3 percent each. On the flip side, Nisshinbo Holdings is losing almost 5 percent, Mitsui Mining & Smelting is down 4 percent and Toho Zinc is lower by more than 3 percent.
On the economic front, Japan will release final July figures for industrial production today.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 110 yen-range on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed modestly higher in choppy trading on Wednesday as traders stuck to the sidelines ahead of the release of some key economic data over the next couple of days. Traders also kept an eye on Washington, where House Speaker Paul Ryan revealed Republicans will release an outline of their tax reform plan the week of September 25.
The Dow rose 39.32 points or 0.2 percent to 22,158.18, the Nasdaq inched up 5.91 points or 0.1 percent to 6,460.19 and the S&P 500 edged up 1.89 points or 0.1 percent to 2,498.37.
The major European markets ended mixed on Wednesday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both rose by 0.2 percent.
Crude oil prices rose on Wednesday. WTI crude oil for October delivery jumped $1.07 to $49.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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Market Analysis
December 26, 2025 08:42 ET Third quarter economic growth data from some major economies including the U.S. were the main news in this holiday shortened week. GDP growth and industrial production data from the U.S. helped to boost morale, while the consumer confidence survey results were less upbeat. In Europe, the quarterly economic growth data from the U.K. drew attention, while the minutes of the Australian central bank’s latest policy session was in focus in Asia.