Japan Markets Open Higher; Nikkei Surges 6%

Japanese stock markets traded higher, following a sharp decline in the previous session. Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump has won the 2016 Presidential election in a hotly-contested vote against Hillary Clinton that few saw coming. The Nikkei 225 dropped 6 percent, or 975 points to 17,226.50, and the TOPIX declined 5.32 percent, or 69.20 points to 1,370.36.

The U.S. dollar declined 0.4 percent versus the Japanese yen to trade at 105.38, compared to 101.19 yen on Wednesday.

Financial shares surged Thursday, with  Nomura Holdings  (8604) gaining around 10 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306) surging over 10 percent. 

West Texas Intermediate for December delivery fell 0.29 percent to trade at $45.14 per barrel on the NYMEX, while Brent for December settlement gained 0.02 percent to $46.37 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.

U.S. markets closed higher overnight, with the Dow climbing 1.40 percent to 18,589.69, and the NASDAQ surging 1.11 percent to 5,251.07.

Top market movers among the Japanese market are as follows:

• Shares of Spancrete Corp (5277) climbed around 30 percent to 335.0 JPY.
• Strike Company Ltd (6196) shares rose around 23 percent to 16,250.0 JPY.
• Rinko Corp (9355) shares increased over 21 percent to 235.0 JPY.

• Colopl Inc (3668) shares dropped around 20 percent to 1,036.0 JPY.
• Wacom Co Ltd (6727) declined over 10 percent to 265.0 JPY.
• ANAP (3189) shares fell 9 percent to 408.0 JPY.