(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is significantly higher on Friday, recouping the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 moving above the 27,700 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains across most sectors as Japan takes gradual steps toward a wider reopening of its borders, with the country looking to raise daily entry cap on the number of visitor arrivals to 30,000 in July after opening up to tourists from June 10.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 302.50 points or 1.10 percent to 27,716.38, after touching a high of 27,776.33 earlier. Japanese shares closed slightly lower on Thursday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is surging more than 6 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 1 percent and Toyota is declining almost 2 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are adding almost 1 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 1 percent.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 1 percent, Mizuho Financial is edging up 0.2 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is flat.
Among major exporters, Sony is gaining more than 1 percent and Panasonic is adding almost 1 percent, while Canon and Mitsubishi Electric are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each.
Among the other major gainers, Pacific Metals is soaring almost 6 percent and Tokai Carbon is gaining almost 4 percent, while Showa Denko K.K. and Sumitomo Metal Mining is adding almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Tosoh is losing more than 3 percent and Denso is down more than 2 percent.
In economic news, the services sector in Japan continued to expand in May, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Friday with a services PMI score of 52.6. That's up from 50.7 in April, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50. The survey also showed that the composite index rose to 52.3 in May from 51.1 in April.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 129 yen-range on Friday.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a substantial turnaround over the course of the trading session on Thursday. The rally on the day more than offset the pullback seen over the two previous sessions, with the major averages reaching their best closing levels in almost a month.
The major averages recovered from early weakness to end the day sharply higher. The Dow jumped 435.05 points or 1.3 percent to 33,248.28, the Nasdaq spiked 322.44 points or 2.7 percent to 12,316.90 and the S&P 500 surged 75.59 points or 1.8 percent to 4,176.82.
The major European markets also all moved to the upside on the day, with the markets in London closed for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. The French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.3 percent and the German DAX Index shot up by 1 percent.
Crude oil moved notably higher on Thursday after the Energy Information Administration released a report showing a much bigger than expected weekly decrease in U.S. crude oil inventories last week. Crude for July delivery jumped $1.61 or 1.4 percent to $116.87 a barrel.
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