After three days of losses, the Japanese stock market is trading higher on Monday with investors picking up stocks amid easing concerns about the Chinese economy following a cut in the reserve requirement ratio.
Shares from banking, retail, construction, securities and insurance sectors are mostly trading higher. Pharmaceuticals, glass & ceramics, manufacturing and chemicals stocks are trading mixed.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which rose to 9,031, is currently up 68.2 points or 0.8 percent at 9,021.5.
Among the top gainers in the Nikkei index, NGK Insulators is gaining as much as 12 percent, Chiyoda Corp shares are up more than 10 percent and Nippon Soda is trading 7.5 percent up.
JGC Corp, Citizen Holdings, Sojitz, Pioneer Corp, Sony Financial Holdings, Mitsubishi Materials, Sumco Corp, Advantest Corp, Nisshin Steel and Mitsubishi Electric are trading higher by 2.5 to 5.5 percent.
Softbank, Mitsumi Electric, East Japan Railway, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Yokohama Rubber and Dai-ichi Life Insurance are also trading sharply higher.
Among bank stocks, Bank of Yokohama is up nearly 5.5 percent, Chiba Bank is gaining about 3.3 percent, SMFG is up more than 2 percent, Mizuho Financial is trading 2 percent up and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is up with a gain of 1.3 percent. Aozora Bank is trading modestly higher, while Shizuoka Bank and Shinsei Bank are trading weak.
Among automobile stocks, Hino Motors, Isuzu Motors and Toyota Motor are trading modestly higher, while Honda Motor, Mitsubishi Motors, Suzuki Motor and Nissan Motor are trading weak.
Shares of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. tumbled more than 4 percent following a sharp 50 percent fall in the company's earnings.
Casio Computer is down more than 5.5 percent. Terumo Corp, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Mitsui Mining, Nippon Sheet Glass, Resona Holdings, Sumitomo Metal Mining and Showa Shell KK are trading lower by 1.5 to 4.5 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded slightly above 80 yen in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 80.10 to the dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore are trading modestly higher, while Malaysia and South Korea are trading weak. Markets across the region ended lower on Friday.
On Wall Street, stocks ended lower on Friday after a volatile session with traders reacting to JP Morgan's revelation of a $2 billion trading loss.
While the Dow ended down 34.4 points or 0.3 percent at 12,820.6 and the S&P 500 slid 4.6 points or 0.3 percent to 1,353.4, the Nasdaq edged up 0.2 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 2,933.8.
Major European markets mostly ended higher on Friday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index and the German DAX index gained 0.6 percent and 1 percent, respectively, while the French CAC 40 index closed nearly flat.
U.S. crude oil futures ended at a near five-month low on Friday, on a strengthening dollar and on demand concerns following some weak economic data out of China. Crude for June delivery dropped $0.95 or 1 percent to close at $96.13 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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