Tokyo - Japanese shares were slightly higher Thursday following gains on Wall Street overnight.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 7.04 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 12,760.00.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 3.28 points, or 0.27 per cent, at 1,220.41.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 109.40-45 yen, up from Wednesday's 5 pm quote of 109.01-02 yen.

Washington - Major US stock indices gained on Wednesday after a better-than-expected report on monthly durable goods orders, while mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sold off some of their outstanding debt.

The Commerce Department reported a 1.3-per-cent gain in durable goods orders in July. Economists had forecast an unchanged measurement for the month, according to Bloomberg financial news service.

Alpbach, A

The Sensex continued to trade in the negative terrain due to heavy selling action witnessed in realty, banking and power stocks, while IT, metal and auto stocks went up.

Today, the 30-share index, BSE Sensex opened negatively at 14,563.10, down 80.88 points.

BSE Midcap fell 0.06%, whereas Smallcap surged 0.03%.

At 12.59 p.m., the 30-share index Sensex stood at 14,427.07, down 55.15 points, after touching a high of 14,563.10 and a low of 14,397.27.

In contrast, the broad based Nifty lost 3.95 points at 4,333.55, after hitting a high of 4,364.25 and a low of 4,315.55.

The 30-share index BSE Sensex ended positively on Tuesday, Aug 26 on account of good buying action witnessed ino and banking stocks, whereas oil & gas stocks restricted the gains.

After starting the day on a pessimistic note at 14,338.27, down 112.08 points, the stock index made a smart recovery during late trade.

Asian stocks saw negative trend on Tuesday, led by financial companies on fear that expanding credit-market losses will swipe off business development and income.  

BSE Midcap index gained 0.06%, whilst Smallcap index fell 0.14%.

Stock market analyst Vishwas Agarwal said that the stock market is tradable with 14,555 and 14,786 target on the BSE above 14,350 level.

At the same time BSE below 14,150 and Nifty below 4,252, the stock market will be pessimistic.

On Tuesday (August 26), ADAG group stocks and a few banking stocks bettered the reaction during the second half, but still no clear indication of trend has appeared.