Japan Markets Open Higher; Nikkei Surges 175 Points

Japanese stocks were trading higher on Friday. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.93 percent, or 175 points to 18,940.50, and the TOPIX rose 0.45 percent, or 6.8 points to 1,519.50.

iShares MSCI Japan ETF EWJ shares rose 1.15 percent to close at $51.10, while iShares MSCI Pacific ex-Japan Idx (ETF) EPP fell 0.17 percent to close at $41.81 on Thursday.

The USD/JPY pair rose 0.24 percent to trade at 114.25 on Friday.

West Texas Intermediate for January delivery rose 0.26 percent to trade at $50.97 per barrel on the NYMEX, while Brent for February settlement rose 0.04 percent to $53.91 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.

U.S. markets closed higher on Thursday, with the Dow gaining 0.33 percent to 19,614.82, and the NASDAQ gaining 0.29 percent to 5,409.51.

Top market movers among the Japanese market are as follows:

• Shares of Dijet Industrial Co Ltd (6138) climbed around 30 percent to 212.0 JPY.
• Terilogy Co Ltd (3356) shares rose around 18 percent to 362.0 JPY.
• Eltes Co Ltd (3967) shares increased over 15 percent to 8,160.0 JPY.

• Kuribayashi Steamship Co Ltd (9171) declined over 11 percent to 401.0 JPY.
• Nihon Denkei Co Ltd (9908) shares dropped around 9 percent to 1,167.0 JPY.
• Global-Dining Inc (7625) shares fell 8 percent to 373.0 JPY.