Japanese Markets Open Higher; Financial Shares Rise

Japanese stocks were trading higher on Friday. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.40 percent, or 69 points to 17,413.50, and the TOPIX rose 0.39 percent, or 5.4 points to 1,381.71.

Financial shares climbed Friday, with  Dai-ichi Life Holdings  (8750) gaining around 9 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306) surging over 9 percent. 

iShares MSCI Japan ETF EWJ rose 0.08 percent to close at $49.43, while iShares MSCI Pacific ex-Japan Idx (ETF) EPP dropped 0.34 percent to close at $40.93 on Thursday.

The U.S. dollar climbed to 106.950 against the Japanese yen.

West Texas Intermediate for December delivery fell 0.47 percent to trade at $44.45 per barrel on the NYMEX, while Brent for December settlement dropped 0.35 percent to $45.68 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.

U.S. markets closed mixed overnight, with the Dow climbing 1.17 percent to 18,807.88, and the NASDAQ dropping 0.81 percent to 5,208.80.

Top market movers among the Japanese market are as follows:

• Shares of Kobe Diesel Co Ltd (6016) climbed around 44 percent to 98.0 JPY.
• Marushohotta Co Ltd (8105) shares rose around 20 percent to 120.0 JPY.
• I-O Data Device Inc (6916) shares increased over 15 percent to 1,132.0 JPY.

• ArtSpark Holdings Inc (3663) shares dropped around 17 percent to 2,774.0 JPY.
• SeedHeiwa Co Ltd (1739) declined over 18 percent to 1,141.0 JPY.
• Taiyo Bussan Kaisha Ltd (9941) shares fell 13 percent to 123.0 JPY.