Japanese Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is trading significantly higher on Friday, snapping a four-session losing streak, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 64,750 level, with gains in index heavyweights and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in automakers and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 561.07 points or 0.87 percent to 64,775.55, after touching a high of 64,846.31 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is surging more than 7 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is down almost 1 percent and Honda is also losing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is edging up 0.3 percent, Screen Holdings is adding more than 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are all losing more than 1 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Panasonic is edging up 0.1 percent. Canon is losing almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are edging down 0.2 percent each.

Among other major gainers, SHIFT is jumping more than 5 percent, while Kioxia Holdings and Furukawa Electric are surging almost 5 percent each. Taiyo Yuden is advancing almost 4 percent and Trend Micro is gaining more than 3 percent, while Aeon, Fujitsu, Sumco, Japan Exchange and Rakuten are all adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Mitsui & Co. is declining more than 4 percent, Sumitomo Chemical is losing almost 4 percent and Takeda Pharmaceutical is slipping more than 3 percent, while Mitsui Chemicals, Mitsubishi, Marubeni, Kikkoman, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Nissui, Mitsubishi Materials, Orix and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha are down almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, Japan's household spending declined 3.6 percent on year in July 2026, higher than the 3.3 percent drop in the prior month and underperforming market expectations for a 1.6 percent fall. It marked the eighth straight month of contraction and the sharpest pace since January 2024.

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, household expenditure rose 0.5 percent, reversing a 6.4 percent decline in June and missing forecasts for a 2.6 percent increase.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 156 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw further upside over the course of the trading day on Thursday after advancing early in the session. The major averages all moved sharply higher on the day, extending the rebound seen in the previous session.

The major averages gave back some ground going into the end of the day but remained firmly positive. The Dow jumped 624.16 points or 1.2 percent to 53,686.11, the Nasdaq surged 366.23 points or 1.4 percent to 26,584.06 and the S&P 500 shot up 81.11 points or 1.1 percent to 7,747.71.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index climbed by 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices ticked higher on Thursday on hopes that the new wave of U.S. strikes on Iran will be limited. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.24 or 0.26 percent at $91.26 per barrel.