The Japanese stock market is trading significantly higher on Monday, snapping the four-session losing streak. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 37,300 level, following the mixed cues from global markets cues on Friday, with gains in index heavyweights, exporters and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in technology stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 247.53 or 0.67 percent at 37,315.88, after touching a high of 37,511.80 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Friday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 1 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.3 percent.
In the tech space, Screen Holdings is slipping almost 5 percent, while Advantest and Tokyo Electron are losing almost 4 percent each.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining more than 1 percent, Mizuho Financial is adding almost 2 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is up almost 3 percent.
The major exporters are higher. Canon and Sony are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Panasonic is adding almost 2 percent. Mitsubishi Electric is flat.
Among other major gainers, Kansai Electric Power, Osaka Gas and NTT Data are surging almost 5 percent each, while Disco is gaining more than 5 percent and Japan Exchange Group is adding almost 5 percent, while Chubu Electric Power, NEXON and Yamaha are advancing more than 4 percent each. Tokyo Gas, Sumitomo Chemical and Sumitomo Pharma are up almost 4 percent each, while Olympus, Shiseido, Omron, Chugai Pharmaceutical, Hino Motors and Odakyu Electric Railway are rising more than 3 percent each.
Conversely, Socionext is plunging almost 6 percent, Disco is declining more than 4 percent and Nissan Motor is losing more than 3 percent, while Renesas Electronics, Fujikura and Sumco are down almost 3 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 154 yen-range on Monday.
On Wall Street, the Nasdaq showed a substantial move to the downside during trading on Friday, extending its recent losing streak, with technology stocks under pressure. The S&P 500 also saw further downside, while the narrower Dow bucked the downtrend.
The Nasdaq plunged 319.49 points or 2.1 percent to 15,282.01, closing lower for the sixth straight session and the S&P 500 also closed lower for the sixth straight day, slumping 43.89 points or 0.9 percent, while the Dow added to the slim gain posted in the previous session, climbing 211.02 points or 0.6 percent to 37,986.40.
The major European markets also finished the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged and the German DAX Index fell by 0.6 percent.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Friday as geopolitical tensions rose following Israel's retaliatory attack on Iran. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.41 at $83.14 a barrel, although WTI crude futures shed about 3 percent in the week.
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