Japanese Markets Open Higher; Nikkei Rises Over 100 Points

Japanese stocks were trading higher on Thursday, ahead of the European Central Bank’s decision later in the day. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.75 percent, or 139 points to 18,635.50, and the TOPIX rose 0.85 percent, or 12.6 points to 1,503.26.

Japan’s Gross Domestic Product rose 1.3 percent year-over-year for the third quarter, compared to preliminary reading of a 2.2 percent growth. Japanese trade surplus came in at Y587.6 billion ($5.2 billion) for October, down from previous month’s reading of Y642.4 billion.

iShares MSCI Japan ETF EWJ shares rose 1.49 percent to close at $50.52, while iShares MSCI Pacific ex-Japan Idx (ETF) EPP rose 1.31 percent to close at $41.88 on Wednesday.

The USD/JPY pair was trading at 113.72 on Thursday.

West Texas Intermediate for January delivery rose 0.24 percent to trade at $49.89 per barrel on the NYMEX, while Brent for February settlement rose 0.02 percent to $53.01 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.

U.S. markets closed higher on Wednesday, with the Dow gaining 1.55 percent to 19,549.62, and the NASDAQ gaining 1.14 percent to 5,393.76.

Top market movers among the Japanese market are as follows:

• Shares of Ishii Hyoki Co Ltd (6336) climbed around 19 percent to 503.0 JPY.
• Tsuchiya Holdings Co Ltd (1840) shares rose around 17 percent to 201.0 JPY.
• Asahi Eito Co Ltd (5341) shares increased over 17 percent to 119.0 JPY.

• Japan Third Party Co Ltd (2488) declined over 11 percent to 877.0 JPY.
• Japan Best Rescue System Co Ltd (2453) shares dropped around 11 percent to 257.0 JPY.
• Rinko Corp (9355) shares fell 10 percent to 265.0 JPY.