(RTTNews) - The Japanese market was trading sharply higher on Monday, ending a four-day losing streak. Wall Street’s sharp gains on Friday and a stronger U.S. dollar boosted investor sentiment. At 9:32 p.m. ET, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 252.38 points or 1.99% at 12,918.42 after losing nearly 500 points during the previous four sessions. The broader Topix index of all the First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was adding 26.38 points to 1,242.80.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the lower 110-yen levels. In early local deals, the dollar was quoted at 110.17-110.18 yen, up 1.07 yen from up from 109.10-109.11 yen late Friday in Tokyo. The U.S. dollar strengthened on gains in the U.S. stocks on Friday and a plunge in crude oil prices.

On Friday, the U.S. market finished with sharp gains, as oil prices tumbled and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said inflation pressures are likely to moderate. The Dow jumped 1.73%, the broader S&P 500 rose 1.13% and the Nasdaq climbed 1.44%.

Oil prices tumbled $6.59 a barrel or 5.43% on Friday, the biggest one-day percentage plunge in nearly four years, following a rebounding dollar and a Russian troop pullback from Georgia. The contract for October delivery settled at US$114.59 a barrel. In the Asian session Monday, oil was down 35 cents to US$114.24 a barrel by 9:23 p.m. ET.

On the economic front, traders have little to digest in terms of economic data.

Major exporters rose as the yen weakened to the lower 110-yen levels. Toyota Motor rose 3.4%, Sony advanced 2.9% and Canon climbed 2.6%.

Among financials, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group gained 3.5%, Mizuho Financial Group jumped 3.6%, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group advanced 3.1%, top brokerage Nomura Holdings surged 3.5% and Daiwa Securities Group moved up 2.8%.

Sea transporters were higher, with Kawasaki Kisen rising 2.3%, Mitsui OSK Lines adding 2.0% and Nippon Yusen gaining 1.8%.

Oil and gas miner Inpex Holdings plunged 3.6% and Nippon Mining Holdings slipped 0.3%, while Nippon Oil rose 0.8% after oil prices plummeted Friday. Among trading houses, Marubeni and Itochu fell 1.0% each, Mitsubishi Corp lost 1.3% and Mitsui & Co. slipped 0.1%.

Sanyo Electric gained 1.4% after a report said that the company will disband Sanyo BPL, a 50-50 Indian joint venture that manufactures cathode-ray tube for televisions, in the current fiscal year to March 2009.

Shares of Nippon Steel rose 1.6% after a Nikkei report said that the leading steelmaker and other major Japanese steelmakers plan to jointly acquire overseas mining rights for iron ore.

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