The Japanese stock market is significantly higher on Thursday, recouping some of the losses in the previous four sessions, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 above the 29,300 level, despite the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, as traders reacted to domestic data that showed producer prices at the highest level in almost three decades. Traders also await the new government's fresh round of stimulus to shore up the economy.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 213.62 points or 0.73 percent to 29,320.40, after touching a high of 29,326.97 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Wednesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is adding almost 1 percent, while Honda is losing almost 1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is adding almost 1 percent.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is adding more than 1 percent.
The major exporters are mostly higher. Panasonic and Canon are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.3 percent. Sony is edging down 0.3 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Pacific Metals is skyrocketing more than 14 percent, Toppan is soaring more than 8 percent, Showa Denko is surging more than 6 percent and Tokai Carbon is gaining more than 4 percent, while Secom and Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings are up more than 3 percent each. JTEKT, Fanuc and Toyota Tsusho are up almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Shiseido is plunging almost 6 percent and Asahi Group is declining almost 5 percent, while Comsys Holdings and Nexon are down almost 3 percent each.
In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 1.2 percent on month in October, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday, accelerating from the 0.3 percent increase in September. On a yearly basis, producer prices spiked 8.0 percent - up from 6.3 percent in the previous month. Export prices were up 2.1 percent on month and 13.7 percent on year in October, the bank said, while import prices spiked 4.1 percent on month and 38.0 percent on year. The foreign exchange rate was up 2.7 percent on month.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the 114 yen-range on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a notable move to the downside during trading on Wednesday extending the pullback seen in the previous session. The major averages continued to give back ground after ending Monday's trading at record closing highs.
The major averages all closed firmly in the red, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq underperformed its counterparts. While the Nasdaq tumbled 263.84 points or 1.7 percent to 15,622.71, the S&P 500 slid 38.54 points or 0.8 percent to 4,646.71 and the Dow fell 240.04 points or 0.7 percent to 36,079.94.
Meanwhile, the major European moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index edged up by 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index closed just above the unchanged line.
Crude oil prices declined sharply on Wednesday, snapping a three-day winning streak after data showed an increase in U.S. crude stockpiles last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended down by $2.81 or 3.3 percent at $81.34 a barrel.
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