Japanese Markets Rise; Nikkei Up Over 1%

Japanese stocks were trading higher on Thursday. The Nikkei 225 climbed 1.08 percent, or 196.56 points to 18,359.50, and the TOPIX rose 0.90 percent, or 13 points to 1,460.47.

iShares MSCI Japan ETF EWJ closed at $49.91, while iShares MSCI Pacific ex-Japan Idx (ETF) EPP gained 0.51 percent to close at $41.04 on Wednesday.

The U.S. dollar increased to 112.83 against the Japanese yen, versus 112.60 yen on Wednesday.

West Texas Intermediate for December delivery rose 0.08 percent to trade at $48.00 per barrel on the NYMEX, while Brent for December settlement gained 0.04 percent to $48.97 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.

U.S. durable goods orders rose 4.80 percent for October, versus analysts’ expectations for a 1.50 percent growth. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index increased to a final reading of 93.8 in November. U.S. markets closed mixed overnight, with the Dow gaining 0.31 percent to 19,083.18, and the NASDAQ dropping 0.11 percent to 5,380.68.

Top market movers among the Japanese market are as follows:

• Shares of T&C Medical Science Inc (3832) climbed around 45 percent to 96.0 JPY.
• Kagetsuenkanko Co Ltd (9674) shares rose around 40 percent to 105.0 JPY.
• Nuts Inc (7612) shares increased over 26 percent to 189.0 JPY.

• Transaction Co Ltd (7818) shares dropped around 15 percent to 1,828.0 JPY.
• Shinden Hightex Corp (3131) declined over 10 percent to 1,442.0 JPY.
• Flight Holdings Inc (3753) shares fell 10 percent to 1,575.0 JPY.