The Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Wednesday after rallying to two-year highs in the previous session.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 36.25 points or 0.18 percent to 20,650.32, off a high of 20,689.05 earlier.
The major exporters are mixed. Panasonic is adding 0.5 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is rising almost 2 percent, while Sony is down 0.4 percent and Canon is lower by 0.2 percent.
Shares of Japan Display surged almost 25 percent after the Nikkei business daily reported that the company has developed a way to mass-produce lower-cost light-emitting diode or OLED screens and start as early as in 2019 to challenge South Korea's lead.
Fast Retailing is advancing more than 1 percent after same-store sales at the company's Uniqlo retail outlets in Japan rose 6.3 percent year-on-year in September.
Among automakers, Toyota is edging up less than 0.1 percent, while Honda is down 0.5 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining almost 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.1 percent.
In the oil space, Inpex is losing more than 1 percent and Japan Petroleum Exploration is declining almost 1 percent after crude oil prices dipped overnight.
Among the best performers, Dowa Holdings, Okuma Corp. and Asahi Group are rising more than 2 percent each. On the flip side, Yamaha Motor and Furukawa Electric are losing more than 2 percent each.
On the economic front, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed that the services sector in Japan continued to expand in September, albeit at a slower rate, with a PMI score of 51.0. That's down from 51.6 in August, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 112 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed higher on Tuesday, adding to gains posted in the previous session, as traders seem optimistic about the economic outlook and the prospects for Republican tax reform. Nonetheless, trading activity was remained relatively subdued, with a lack of major U.S. economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines.
The Dow rose 84.07 points or 0.4 percent to 22,641.67, the Nasdaq edged up 15.00 points or 0.2 percent to 6,531.71 and the S&P 500 inched up 5.46 points or 0.2 percent to 2,534.58.
European stocks also moved to the upside on Tuesday, although the German markets were closed for a public holiday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.
Crude oil futures inched lower Tuesday ahead of U.S inventories figures. WTI crude oil dipped $0.16 to close at $50.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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Market Analysis
May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.