(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is notably higher on Monday as investors cheered news that Democratic candidate Joe Biden defeated incumbent Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential race.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 495.50 points or 2.04 percent to 24,820.73, after touching a high of 24,829.12 earlier. Japanese shares closed at a 29-year high on Friday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is rising more than 4 percent and Fast Retailing is higher by more than 3 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 4 percent and Tokyo Electron is rising more than 3 percent.
The major exporters are mostly higher despite a stronger yen. Panasonic is advancing more than 1 percent, while Sony is adding almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is up 0.3 percent, while Canon is down 0.2 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is down 0.3 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 8 percent after reporting an increase in its second-quarter profit and raising its full-year outlook. Toyota is rising more than 3 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Mitsui E&S is gaining more than 10 percent and Bandai Namco is higher by almost 8 percent.
Conversely, Eisai Co. is falling more than 23 percent, Minebea Mitsumi is tumbling more than 8 percent and West Japan Railway is losing more than 3 percent.
On the economic front, Japan will see preliminary September numbers for its leading and coincident indexes today.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 103 yen-range on Monday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed roughly flat on Friday after seeing early weakness partly due to profit taking following the strong upward move seen over the past several sessions. Lingering uncertainty about the outcome of the presidential election also weighed on the markets as several key states continue to count votes.
While the Nasdaq inched up 4.30 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 11,895.23, the Dow dipped 66.78 points or 0.2 percent to 28,323.40 and the S&P 500 edged down 1.01 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 3,509.44.
The major European markets turned in a mixed performance on Friday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.5 percent and the German DAX Index slid by 0.7 percent.
Crude oil futures ended sharply lower on Friday, weighed down by rising concerns over the outlook for energy demand due to the continued surge in coronavirus cases across the U.S. and in several European countries. Crude for December delivery tumbled $1.65 or 4.3 percent to $37.14 a barrel.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
