The Japanese stock market is trading modestly higher on Wednesday after opening in the red, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 59,500 level, with gains in index heavyweights partially offset by weakness in automakers, exporters and financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 156.56 or 0.29 percent at 59,521.73, after hitting a low of 59,529.12 earlier. Japanese stocks ended significantly higher Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is surging almost 7 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 2 percent and Toyota is declining more than 2 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is advancing more than 2 percent, while Tokyo Electron is losing more than 1 percent and Screen Holdings is declining almost 3 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are declining more than 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing almost 2 percent.
Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is declining more than 2 percent, Panasonic is down more than 1 percent, Canon is edging down 0.3 percent and Sony is losing almost 1 percent.
Among other major gainers, SHIFT is jumping more than 6 percent, BayCurrent is surging almost 5 percent, Kioxia Holdings is advancing more than 4 percent and Resonac Holdings is gaining almost 4 percent, while Nomura Research Institute, Sumco and Ibiden are adding almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Sumitomo Metal Mining and Sapporo Holdings are declining more than 4 percent each, while IHI, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Fuji Electric, Socionext and Konami Group are slipping almost 4 percent each. Yokohama Rubber, Toyota Tsusho, OKUMA, Mitsubishi Materials and Sumitomo are losing more than 3 percent each, while Toppan Holdings and Sojitz are down almost 3 percent each.
In economic news, Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 666.977 billion yen in March, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. That was well shy of forecasts for 1.106 trillion yen following the 44.3 billion yen surplus in February.
Exports were up 11.7 percent on year at 11.003 trillion yen, exceeding expectations for an increase of 11.0 percent and up from 4.0 percent in the previous month. Imports climbed an annual 10.9 percent to 10.336 trillion yen versus forecasts for a gain of 7.1 percent after rising 10.3 percent a month earlier.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 159 yen-range on Wednesday.
On the Wall Street, stocks saw further downside over the course of the trading day on Tuesday following the modest pullback seen in the previous session. The major averages initially moved higher but slid firmly into negative territory as the day progressed.
The major averages ended the day just off their lows of the session. The Dow slid 293.18 points or 0.6 percent to 49,149.38, the Nasdaq declined 144.43 points or 0.6 percent to 24,529.96 and the S&P 500 fell 45.13 points or 0.6 percent to 7,064.01. The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slid by 0.6 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both slumped by 1.1 percent.
Crude oil prices continued to surge on Tuesday as the ongoing shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz kept supply disruption concerns alive. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $3.99 or 4.45 percent at $93.60 per barrel.
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Market Analysis
April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.