Japanese Markets Open Higher; Nikkei Up Over 150 Points

Japanese stocks were trading higher on Friday. The Nikkei 225 climbed 0.95 percent, or 170 points to 18,032.50, and the TOPIX rose 0.57 percent, or 8.1 points to 1,431.19.

iShares MSCI Japan ETF (NYSEARCA: EWJ) rose 1.50 percent to close at $50.14, while iShares MSCI Pacific ex-Japan Idx (ETF) (NYSEARCA: EPP) gained 0.55 percent to close at $40.38 on Thursday.

The U.S. dollar was trading at 110.24 against the Japanese yen on Friday, compared with 109.01 yen in Tokyo Thursday.

West Texas Intermediate for December delivery fell 1.04 percent to trade at $45.50 per barrel on the NYMEX, while Brent for December settlement dropped 1.03 percent to $46.01 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.

U.S. markets closed higher overnight, with the Dow gaining 0.19 percent to 18,903.82, and the NASDAQ surging 0.74 percent to 5,333.97.

Top market movers among the Japanese market are as follows:

• Shares of Kitac Corp (4707) climbed around 32 percent to 330.0 JPY.
• Transaction Co Ltd (7818) shares rose around 23 percent to 2,642.0 JPY.
• CHIeru Co Ltd (3933) shares increased over 23 percent to 1,592.0 JPY.

• Tokyo Sangyo Co Ltd (8070) shares dropped around 8 percent to 490.0 JPY.
• Konami Corp. (9766) declined over 6 percent to 3,950.0 JPY.
• Sakurajima Futo Kaisha Ltd (9353) shares fell 4 percent to 357.0 JPY.