Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - Reversing the losses in the previous session, the Japanese market is notably higher on Friday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 42,800 level, with gains in index heavyweights and financial stocks as well as a mixed performance in all other sectors.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 192.51 points or 0.45 percent to 42,841.72, after touching a high of 42,972.36 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining more than 1 percent and Honda is adding almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.5 percent, while Advantest is losing almost 1 percent and Screen Holdings is declining almost 4 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are gaining 3.5 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is surging almost 5 percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon and Panasonic are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 1 percent. Sony is gaining almost 3 percent.

Among other major gainers, Ebara is jumping almost 9 percent, Lasertec is soaring more than 6 percent and Japan Exchange Group is surging almost 5 percent, while Mitsui Mining & Smelting and Tokai Carbon are gaining more than 5 percent each. Resona Holdings and Concordia Financial are adding almost 5 percent each, while Dai-ichi Life is up almost 4 percent each. Tokio Marine, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust and Kansai Electric Power are advancing more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Dentsu Group is plummeting more than 12 percent, Credit Saison is tumbling more than 10 percent and Tosoh is declining more than 3 percent.

In economic news, Japan's gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent on quarter in the second quarter of 2025, the Cabinet Office said in Friday's preliminary report. That beat forecasts for an increase of 0.1 percent following the upwardly revised 0.1 percent gain in the previous three months (originally flat).

On an annualized basis, GDP was up 1.0 percent - again topping forecasts for a gain of 0.4 percent and up from the upwardly revised 0.6 percent increase in the three months prior (originally -0.2 percent)

Capex was up 1.3 percent on quarter, beating forecasts for 0.5 percent and up from 1.0 percent in Q1. External demand rose 0.3 percent on quarter, while the GDP price index was up 3.0 percent on year and private consumption added 0.2 percent on quarter.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 147 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Thursday after recovering from an early move to the downside. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing narrowly mixed.

While the S&P 500 crept up 1.96 points or less than a tenth of a percent to a new record closing high of 6,468.54, the Nasdaq edged down 2.47 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 21,710.67 and the Dow slipped 11.01 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 44,911.26.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both advance by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices jumped on Thursday ahead of a crucial meeting between the U.S. and Russian President's later today in Alaska to discuss ways to end the Russia-Ukraine war. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $1.32 or 2.11 percent at $63.97 per barrel.