(RTTNews) - A mixed to higher open is expected Thursday for Japan stocks, following Wall Street’s lukewarm lead overnight. U.S. stocks closed higher on a mixed bag of economic data.

The Nikkei 225 Average was down 18.51 points or 0.19 percent at 9,939.93.

Among the Nikkei component stocks, there were 85 closing higher, 126 lower and 14 were unchanged.

The broader Topix index was down 1.46 points or 0.2 percent at 928.30.

Among the stocks and sectors of interest, falling crude prices sent oil explorer Inpex down 21,000 yen or 2.72 percent. Nippon Oil was down 10 yen or 1.75 percent and Showa Shell declined 7 yen or 0.68 percent.

Among the major banks, Sumitomo Mitsui advanced 110 yen or 2.80 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ was up 4 yen or 0.67 percent, Mizuho Financial was down 4 yen or 1.70 percent and Resona Holdings was up 13 yen or 0.96 percent.

Among the electronics companies, Sony was down 30 yen or 1.19 percent, Sharp Corp was down 7 yen or 0.70 percent, Pioneer Corp was up 5 yen or 1.74 percent, Panasonic was down 5 yen or 0.38 percent and Canon fell 30 yen or 0.95 percent.

In overseas action, stocks on Wall Street posted a positive close on Wednesday. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 57.06 points or 0.68 percent at 8,504.06, the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 10.68 points or 0.58 percent at 1,845.72 and the Standard and Poor’s 500 index was ahead 4.01 points or 0.44 percent at 923.33.

Asia/Pacific markets finished mixed on Wednesday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 149.78 points or 0.81 percent at 18,378.73.

The Shanghai Composite index in China was up 48.79 points or 1.65 percent at 3,008.15.

The Jakarta Composite index in Indonesia advanced 33.10 points or 1.63 percent at 2,059.88.

India’s BSE 30 index was up 151.63 points or 1.05 percent to 14,645.47.

The KOSPI/Seoul Composite index in South Korea rose 21.59 points or 1.55 percent to 1,411.66.

The Taiwan Weighted Index advanced 146.81 points or 2.28 percent to 6,578.97.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

Copyright(c) 2009 RTTNews.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Posted in Categories: Japan, Releases, Stocks, USA.

Subscribe by RSS Subscribe by Email