The Japanese stock market is trading flat on Friday amid choppy trading as investors weighed the overnight positive lead from Wall Street against rising oil prices.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index opened lower at 9,594.85 and later rose to 9,636.40, but is currently trading at 9,599.19, up 3.62 or 0.04 percent.
On Thursday, the Nikkei index rose 0.4 percent to its highest level since early August, as the yen's drop to its lowest against the dollar since July boosted export-related shares. The broader Topix index ended half a percent higher.
Among exporters, Canon is down 0.42 percent, while Sony Corp. is gaining 0.95 percent, Sharp Corp. is adding 0.18 percent and Fujitsu is advancing 0.23 percent.
In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ is advancing 1.47 percent, Mizuho Financial is gaining 1.52 percent and Resona Holdings is adding 1.28 percent.
Automakers are trading mixed. Toyota is down 0.15 percent and Suzuki is losing 0.66 percent, while Honda is up 0.66 percent and Mazda is gaining 1.46 percent.
In the energy space, Inpex Corp. is gaining 3.6 percent.
J Front Retailing is adding 1.79 percent after the Nikkei business daily reported that the department store chain is planning to buy mall operator Parco Co. for 30 billion yen.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 80 yen-level in Tokyo. In late-morning trades, the dollar was quoting at 80.08-80.10 yen, down 0.03 yen from Thursday's close of 80.11-80.13 yen.
On Wall Street, stocks moved higher over the course of the trading on Thursday with upbeat jobs data overshadowing some disappointing earnings news. The major averages recovered from early weakness, but the Dow was unable to cross the 13,000 level.
The Dow rose 46.02 points or 0.4 percent to 12,984.69, the Nasdaq jumped 23.81 points or 0.8 percent to 2,956.98 and the S&P 500 climbed 5.80 points or 0.4 percent to 1,363.46.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index closed nearly flat and the German DAX Index fell by 0.5 percent.
U.S. crude oil futures closed at a near ten-month high Thursday, mostly on supply concerns and a weak dollar, notwithstanding a larger-than-expected increase in U.S. oil inventories.
Light sweet crude for April delivery, rose $1.55 or 1.5 percent to close at $107.83 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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