Japan Nikkei surges after Wall Street recovery

Headline indices of the Japan share market spurted on Thursday, 27 December 2018, extending gains from the previous session, as investors continued hunting for recently battered stocks on tracking strong gains on Wall Street overnight after strong retail sales data and White House reassurances that Fed Chair Jay Powell won't be fired. All of the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 33 subindexes were in positive territory, with shares in Oil & Coal Products, Precision Instruments, Warehousing & Harbor Transportation Services, Wholesale Trade, Chemicals, Land Transportation, and Textiles & Apparels being notable gainers. At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei index surged 750.56 points, or 3.88%, at 20,077.62. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 70.16 points, or 4.9%, to 1,501.63.

The Dow surged more than 1,000 points for the first time overnight, leading a broad Wall Street rebound after a report of robust holiday sales helped mollify concerns about the health of the US economy. Earlier, Wall Street had suffered its worst-ever Christmas Eve drop on the back of factors including turmoil in the White House.

Exporter shares rose strongly as a weaker yen improved their business outlook. The US dollar was trading at 111.17 yen, down from 111.33 yen in New York but up from 110.45 yen when Tokyo closed on Wednesday.

Energy-related shares were boosted as oil surged. Crude oil prices rose sharply amid thin deals on Wednesday, rebounding from a 6.7% plunge on Christmas Eve. WTI crude for February rose $3.69 or 8.7% to close at $46.22 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, recording their biggest single session gain in several months. Petroleum product majors Inpex Corp and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co rose as much as 5%. Oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan and Showa Shell Sekiyu KK advanced over 9%.

Information technology company Cybozu Inc jumped over 9% after it raised its profit outlook for the year through December 2018.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Japanese yen, which can be a haven during market uncertainty, depreciated in the lower 111 yen zone against dollar on Thursday. The dollar was quoted at 111.21-22 yen compared with 111.32-42 yen in New York and 110.42-43 yen on Wednesday in Tokyo. The euro, meanwhile, fetched 126.41-43 yen against 126.35-45 yen in New York and 125.90-94 yen in late Wednesday afternoon trade in Tokyo.

OFFSHORE MARKET NEWS: Wall Street stocks roared back to life in post-Christmas trade on Wednesday, shaking off four straight routs following strong retail sales data and White House reassurances that Fed Chair Jerome Powell won't be fired. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 1,086.25 or 5% at 22,878.45, meanwhile the Nasdaq spiked 361.44 points or 5.8% to 6,554.36 and the S&P 500 surged up 116.60 points or 5% to 2,467.70.

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