The Japanese stock market is notably higher on Wednesday, extending gains from the previous session, after U.S. stocks closed sharply higher overnight in reaction to news about U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's transition to the White House. The recent encouraging updates on the coronavirus vaccine front also continued to aid sentiment.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 520.44 points or 1.99 percent to 26,686.03, after touching a high of 26,706.42 earlier. The Japanese market closed at multi-year highs on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is advancing more than 1 percent and Fast Retailing is rising more than 3 percent. In the tech space, Advantest is higher by more than 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding more than 1 percent.
The major exporters are notably higher. Panasonic is gaining almost 4 percent, while Canon and Mitsubishi Electric are rising more than 3 percent each. Sony is advancing almost 3 percent.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is higher 3 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is advancing almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is adding almost 2 percent and Toyota is up 0.4 percent.
Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, a subsidiary of MS&AD Insurance Group, will invest $350 million in U.S.-based home insurance technology company Hippo Enterprises Inc. Shares of MS&AD Insurance are advancing more than 1 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Nissan Motor and Konica Minolta are gaining more than 7 percent each, while Nippon Steel and Toho Zinc are rising more than 6 percent each. Sumitomo Metal Mining is higher by almost 6 percent.
Conversely, Dena Co., Nichirei Corp. and Rakuten are all lower by almost 2 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid 104 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed sharply higher on Tuesday, reacting to news about the President-elect Joe Biden's transition to the White House. The market appeared to be hoping that a new administration at White House will decide on a fiscal stimulus soon and begin efforts to put the economy back on track. The recent encouraging updates on the coronavirus vaccine front continued to aid sentiment.
The Dow ended up 454.64 points or 1.54 percent at 30,045.91, settling above the coveted 30,000 mark for the first time ever. The S&P 500 surged up 57.84 points or 1.62 percent to settle at 3,635.43, a record closing high, while the Nasdaq climbed 156.15 points or 1.31 percent to finish at 12,036.79.
The major European too closed on a buoyant note on Tuesday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced 1.6 percent, Germany's DAX gained 1.3 percent and France's CAC 40 rose 1.2 percent.
Crude oil prices rose sharply and lifted the most active futures contract to their highest close since March on Tuesday. WTI crude for January gained $1.85 or about 4.3 percent to $44.91 a barrel.
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