Japan Stock Markets Open Higher; Nikkei Up 75 Points

Japanese stocks were trading higher on Monday. The Nikkei 225 climbed 0.42 percent, or 75 points to 18,042.50, and the TOPIX rose 0.62 percent, or 8.8 points to 1,437.26.

iShares MSCI Japan ETF (NYSEARCA: EWJ) fell 1.50 percent to close at $49.39, while iShares MSCI Pacific ex-Japan Idx (ETF) (NYSEARCA: EPP) dropped 0.42 percent to close at $40.21 on Friday.

The U.S. dollar climbed to 111.125 yen against the Japanese yen on Monday.

West Texas Intermediate for December delivery rose 0.91 percent to trade at $46.78 per barrel on the NYMEX, while Brent for December settlement gained 0.83 percent to $47.25 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.

U.S. markets closed lower overnight, with the Dow dropping 0.19 percent to 18,867.932, and the NASDAQ falling 0.23 percent to 5,321.51.

Top market movers among the Japanese market are as follows:

• Shares of Wintest Corp (6721) climbed around 22 percent to 173.0 JPY.
• Kobe Diesel Co Ltd (6016) shares rose around 22 percent to 123.0 JPY.
• Showa Holdings Co Ltd (5103) shares increased over 20 percent to 229.0 JPY.

• Nagase Brothers Inc (9733) shares dropped around 13 percent to 4,760.0 JPY.
• Transaction Co Ltd (7818) declined over 12 percent to 2,317.0 JPY.
• Kawakami Paint Mfg Co Ltd (4616) shares fell 6 percent to 289.0 JPY.