The Japanese stock market is significantly higher on Wednesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 40,700 level, with gains across most sectors led by exporters and financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 388.83 or 0.96 percent at 40,786.86, after touching a high of 40,794.41 earlier. Japanese stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is flat and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is up more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.2 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is edging down 0.1 percent and Screen Holdings is losing almost 2, while Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.4 percent.
In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and are gaining almost 1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is advancing more than 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding almost 2 percent.
Among the major exporters, Sony is edging up 0.1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric, Panasonic and Canon are gaining more than 1 percent each.
Among other major gainers, Resona Holdings is advancing more than 5 percent, while Sumitomo Realty & Development and Tokyo Tatemono are gaining more than 4 percent each. Dai Nippon Printing is adding more than 3 percent, while Suzuki Motor, Tokyu Fudosan, Konami Group and Sharp are up almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Fujikura is losing almost 3 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 151 yen-range on Wednesday.
On the Wall Street, stocks saw modest strength throughout much of the trading day on Tuesday before coming under pressure in the final hour of the session. The major averages all moved to the downside, finishing the day in negative territory.
After climbing by more than 100 points earlier in the day, the Dow ended the session down 31.31 points or 0.1 percent at 39,282.33. The Nasdaq also fell 68.77 points or 0.4 percent to 16,315.70 and the S&P 500 dipped 14.61 points or 0.3 percent to 5,203.58.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index climbed by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent and the U.K.\'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent.
Crude oil prices settled lower on Tuesday with traders assessing oil demand and supply positions amid the tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended lower by $0.33 at $81.62 a barrel.