Japanese Market Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - Extending the gains in the previous two sessions, the Japanese market is sharply higher on Friday, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 52,200 level to fresh all-time highs, with gains in index heavyweights, exporters and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in automakers and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 886.71 points or 1.73 percent to 52,212.32, after touching a fresh all-time high of 52,391.45 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 3 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing more than 1 percent and Honda is down almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 3 percent, while Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings are advancing more than 1 percent each.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are advancing more than 3 percent each, while Canon is edging up 0.1 percent. Panasonic is tumbling more than 6 percent.

Among other major gainers, Socionext is skyrocketing almost 17 percent, Konami Group is soaring more than 14 percent, Renesas Electronics is jumping more than 10 percent, Hitachi advancing almost 10 percent, Japan Tobacco is surging almost 9 percent and Osaka Gas is rising more than 7 percent, while Kansai Electric Power and Nomura Research Institute are gaining more than 5 percent each. NEXON and East Japan Railway are adding almost 5 percent each, while Tokyo Gas, Ryohin Keikaku and Toho are up more than 4 percent each.

Conversely, Oriental Land is tumbling more than 8 percent, Yamato Holdings is sliding almost 8 percent, Nissan Motor is declining more than 4 percent and Nidec is losing almost 4 percent, while Kyocera and Keyence are down almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, retail sales in Japan unexpectedly rose 0.5 percent year-on-year in September 2025, rebounding from a downwardly revised 0.9 percent decline in the August, but falling short of market expectations for a 0.7 percent increase. On a monthly basis, retail sales rose 0.3 percent in September, recovering from a downwardly revised 0.9 percent drop in August.

Japan's unemployment rate held at 2.6 percent in September 2025, unchanged from the previous month but slightly above market expectations of 2.5 percent. It remained the highest reading since July 2024, with the number of unemployed increasing by 20,000 to a 14-month high of 1.81 million. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the labor force participation rate climbed to 64.2 percent, marking the highest level in three months and up from 63.5 percent a year earlier. Meanwhile, core consumer prices in Tokyo's Ku-area rose 2.8 percent year-on-year in October 2025, picking up from a 2.5 percent gain in the previous two months and surpassing market forecasts of 2.6 percent.

Japan's industrial production rose 2.2 percent month-over-month in September 2025, beating market expectations of 1.5 percent and rebounding from a 1.5 percent drop in the previous month. It marked the first increase since June and the fastest pace since February. On an annual basis, industrial production expanded 3.4 percent, reversing a 1.6 percent decline in August.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 153 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Thursday, with the Dow joining the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 in negative territory after seeing some strength early in the session.

After ending Wednesday's trading at a record closing high, the tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a particularly steep drop, plunging 377.33 points or 1.6 percent to 23,581.14. The S&P 500 also slumped 68.25 points or 1.0 percent to 6,822.34, while the narrower Dow posted a more modest loss, slipping 109.88 points or 0.2 percent to 47,522.12.

Meanwhile, the major European markets showed a lack of direction over the course of the session. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.5 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both ended the day roughly flat.

Crude oil prices moved back to the downside early in the session on Thursday but have regained ground over the course of the trading day. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down just $0.02 or less than a tenth of a percent at $60.46 per barrel.