Japanese Markets Surge; Nikkei Up 100 Points

Japanese stocks were trading higher on Wednesday. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.58 percent, or 106 points to 18,466.50, and the TOPIX rose 0.61 percent, or 9 points to 1,486.18.

iShares MSCI Japan ETF EWJ shares rose 0.44 percent to close at $49.78, while iShares MSCI Pacific ex-Japan Idx (ETF) EPP rose 0.15 percent to close at $41.34 on Tuesday.

Shares of SoftBank climbed Wednesday after the company’s CEO Masayoshi Son announced plans to invest $50 billion in U.S. start-up companies.

The U.S. dollar was trading mostly flat at 113.990 against the Japanese yen.

West Texas Intermediate for January delivery fell 0.71 percent to trade at $50.57 per barrel on the NYMEX, while Brent for January settlement fell 0.63 percent to $53.59 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.

U.S. markets closed higher on Tuesday, with the Dow gaining 0.18 percent to 19,251.78, and the NASDAQ gaining 0.45 percent to 5,333.00.

Top market movers among the Japanese market are as follows:

• Shares of Prospect Co Ltd (3528) climbed around 73 percent to 71.0 JPY.
• Softbank Technology Corp (4726) shares rose around 18 percent to 3,130.0 JPY.
• Japan Third Party Co Ltd (2488) shares increased over 16 percent to 974.0 JPY.

• Kagetsuenkanko Co Ltd (9674) declined over 15 percent to 116.0 JPY.
• Jalco Holdings Inc (6625) shares dropped around 15 percent to 123.0 JPY.
• Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha Ltd (9362) shares fell 14 percent to 198.0 JPY.