TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market opened on a high note Friday, with a stronger dollar triggering some hectic buying across the board in early trades.
With stocks gaining in strength, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose to around 10,867 after opening at 10,797 and is currently trading at 10,852, up 230.6 points or 2.2 percent from its previous close.
Automobile, banking, non-ferrous metals, chemicals, foods and retail stocks opened sharply higher and are still mostly trading with strong gains. Shares from services, securities, real estate and pharmaceuticals sectors are also trading firm.
Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma is up nearly 25 percent. Konami Corp. shares are up nearly 8 percent. Nippon Paper Group, Sony Corp. (SNE), Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, Trend Micro, Sumitomo Chemical, Terumo Corp. and Hokuetsu Kishu Paper are up 4.5 to 6.5 percent.
Dentsu Inc. Toshiba Corp., Daiwa Securities Group, MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Nippon Express, Fujifilm Holdings, Konica Minolta Holdings, Japan Tobacco, Astellas Pharma, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, JFE Holdings and Taiyo Yuden are all trading higher by over 3 percent.
Advantest Corp. (ATE), Canon Inc. (CAJ), Casio Computer and Chubu Electric Power are also up with strong gains.
Among bank stocks, Bank of Yokohama, Aozora Bank, Chiba Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MTU), Mizuho Financial (MFG) and SMFG are up 1 to 3.5 percent.
In the automobile space, Hino Motors, Mazda Motor, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan Motor and Suzuki Motor are trading higher by 2 to 4 percent. Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Honda Motor (HMC) and Isuzu Motors are also up with impressive gains.
In economic news, core consumer prices in Japan were down 0.2 percent on year in December, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Friday. That was in line with forecasts after easing 0.1 percent in November.
Overall CPI was down 0.1 percent on year versus forecasts for -0.2 percent, which would have been unchanged. On month, core CPI was down 0.1 percent and overall inflation was flat.
Core inflation in Tokyo, considered a leading indicator for the nationwide trend, dipped 0.5 percent on year in January - matching forecasts after falling 0.6 percent in December. Overall CPI was down 0.6 percent on year - unchanged and in line with forecasts. On month, Tokyo core CPI fell 0.6 percent and overall inflation eased 0.2 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar rose 90.69 against the yen in early deals in Tokyo, hitting a fresh 31-month high. The yen is currently trading at 90.31 to the dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore are trading modestly higher. Shanghai and Hong Kong are trading flat, while South Korea and Taiwan are trading in negative territory.
On Wall Street, stocks saw some wild swings Thursday, as traders weighed upbeat jobs data and earnings news against disappointing quarterly results from tech giant Apple Inc. (AAPL).
The major averages eventually ended the day mixed. While the Nasdaq declined 23.3 points or 0.7 percent to 3,130.4, the S&P 500 inched up 0.01 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 1,494.8 and the Dow rose 46 points or 0.3 percent to 13,825.3.
Major European markets moved higher on Thursday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index advanced by 1.1 percent, while the French CAC 40 index and the German DAX index gained 0.7 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
U.S. crude oil settled higher Thursday, as demand growth concerns eased with some positive manufacturing data out of China, the world's second-largest energy consumer. Oil prices also reacted to some upbeat macroeconomic data out of the U.S.
Crude for March delivery gained $0.72 or 0.8 percent to close at $95.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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