FX.co ★ Japanese Market Significantly Higher

The Japanese stock market rebounded strongly on Thursday, reversing losses from the previous two sessions. Despite negative global market trends, the Nikkei 225 surged past the 38,800 mark, driven by gains in most sectors, particularly among large-cap and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index increased by 250.62 points or 0.65 percent to 38,867.72, after reaching an intraday high of 38,938.67. Japanese equities had closed significantly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group rose more than 3 percent, while Fast Retailing, operator of Uniqlo, edged up 0.5 percent. In the automotive sector, Toyota saw a slight increase of 0.1 percent, and Honda gained 0.4 percent.

In the technology sector, Advantest rose nearly 4 percent, Tokyo Electron added 1.5 percent, and Screen Holdings advanced almost 2 percent.

Within the banking industry, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial suffered a loss of nearly 1 percent, while Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial both edged up by 0.1 percent.

Among major exporters, Canon and Mitsubishi Electric each gained nearly 2 percent, Sony added around 1 percent, and Panasonic rose by more than 1 percent.

Significant gainers included Teijin, which soared 7.5 percent, and Disco, which surged nearly 6 percent. Yamato Holdings, Socionext, and Renesas Electronics each advanced around 4 percent, while Astellas Pharma, NTT Data, and Sumco added almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Sumitomo Metal Mining dropped nearly 4 percent, and Dowa Holdings, NEXON, and Mitsubishi Materials each declined by more than 3 percent. Sumitomo Realty & Development was down nearly 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the higher 156-yen range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks lacked clear direction for much of Wednesday's trading session but fell under pressure following the release of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting minutes. Although the major indices recovered from their worst levels by the close, they ended the day in negative territory after a modest rise on Tuesday. The Dow dropped 201.95 points or 0.5 percent to 39,671.04, the S&P 500 declined 14.40 points or 0.3 percent to 5,307.01, and the Nasdaq fell 31.08 points or 0.2 percent to 16,801.54.

The major European markets also declined on the same day. The German DAX Index dipped by 0.3 percent, while both the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices hit a two-month low on Wednesday after data revealed an unexpected increase in U.S. crude oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July settled down by $1.09 or 1.4 percent at $77.57 a barrel.