(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is surging on Friday following the positive cues overnight from Wall Street and on optimism about a new coronavirus treatment as a report said that a Gilead Sciences' drug showed promising results in treating COVID-19 patients.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 536.26 points or 2.78 percent to 19,826.46 after touching a high of 19,892.96 earlier. Japanese shares closed lower on Thursday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank is gaining almost 7 percent and Fast Retailing is rising more than 5 percent.
The major exporters are higher despite a stronger yen. Sony is gaining almost 3 percent and Canon is higher by more than 2 percent, while Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric are advancing more than 1 percent each.
In the tech space, Advantest is rising more than 4 percent and Tokyo Electron is higher by more than 3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is climbing almost 7 percent and Toyota is advancing more than 2 percent.
In the oil sector, Japan Petroleum is down 0.3 percent while Inpex is adding 0.3 percent after crude oil prices ended flat overnight.
Among the other major gainers, Recruit Holdings and Casio Computer are climbing almost 7 percent each, while Mineabea Mitsumi, Z Holdings and Suzuki Motor are higher by more than 6 percent each.
Conversely, Chughai Pharmaceutical is losing more than 2 percent.
On the economic front, Japan will see final February numbers for industrial production and its tertiary industry index today.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 107 yen-range on Friday.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction in the trading session on Thursday but managed to end mostly higher as U.S. President Donald Trump prepared to announce guidelines for states on reopening the country later today. In addition, the Labor Department's report on first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits showed more than 5 million filed for unemployment for the week ended April 11, although that reflects a decrease from the more than 6 million that filed for the first time in the previous week.
While the Nasdaq surged up 139.19 points or 1.7 percent to 8,532.36, the S&P 500 rose 16.19 points or 0.6 percent to 2,799.55 and the Dow inched up 33.33 points or 0.1 percent to 23,537.68.
The major European markets turned in a mixed performance on Thursday. While the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index crept up by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent.
Crude oil prices retreated after early gains on Thursday as concerns about outlook for energy demand continued to weigh. WTI crude for May ended flat at $19.87 a barrel, after moving between $19.55 and $20.53.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
