Buoyed by a strong close on Wall Street overnight and the dollar's rise against the yen, the Japanese stock market opened on a rousing note on Wednesday.
As stocks surged higher amid hectic buying, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index zoomed past the 15,000 mark. With most of its components trading sharply higher, the Nikkei is now up 330 points or 2.2 percent at 15,088.4.
Banking, automobile, steel, non-ferrous metals, railway, precision instruments, textiles and chemicals stocks are mostly up with strong gains.
Isuzu Motors is trading higher by over 20 percent. Taiyo Yuden, NGK Insulators, Sony Corp. (SNE) and Tokyo Electric Power are gaining 12 to 15 percent.
T&D Holdings and Sony Financial Holdings are up nearly 10 percent. Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, Panasonic Corp. (PC), Citizen Holdings, Japan Tobacco, Sumitomo Chemical and Softbank Corp. are up 5 to 8 percent.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (MTU) is up nearly 6 percent on expectations of strong earnings results. Seven & I Holdings, Fuji Heavy Industries, Mazda Motor, Hino Motors, Nissan Motor, Mitsui Chemicals, Olympus Corp., Dai-ichi Life Insurance, Casio Computer and Kawasaki Heavy Industries are all trading higher by 3 to 5 percent.
Mizuho Financial Group (MFG), Shizuoka Bank, Shinsei Bank, Showa Denko KK, Taiheiyo Cement, J Front Retailing and Daikin Industries are also up sharply.
Meanwhile, Heiwa Real Esate, Tokyo Dome, Nisshin Steel Holdings, Sharp Corp., Nissan Chemical Industries, Credit Saison and Tokyo Tatemono are trading lower, losing 1 to 4 percent.
On the economic front, an index measuring tertiary industry activity in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 1.3 percent on month in March, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Wednesday, standing at 98.6. That missed forecasts for a decline of 0.7 percent following the 1.1 percent increase in February.
Industries that contracted were information and communications, wholesale and retail trade, utilities and amusement services. Industries that expanded were scientific research, transport activities, health care and real estate.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the lower 102 yen range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 102.11 to the U.S. dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan are trading higher, while Shanghai, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea are trading in negative territory.
On Wall Street, stocks moved notably higher on Tuesday, with traders reacting positively to 'bullish' comments about the economy from hedge fund manager David Tepper. The gains lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record highs, while the Nasdaq set another new twelve-year high.
The Dow advanced 123.6 points or 0.8 percent to 15,215.3, the Nasdaq rose 23.8 points or 0.7 percent to 3,462.6 and the S&P 500 jumped 16.6 points or 1 percent to 1,650.3.
Major European markets too ended higher on Tuesday. The French CAC 40 index gained 0.5 percent, while the German DAX index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index moved up by 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.
U.S. crude oil slipped for a fourth straight day to end lower on Tuesday, mostly on demand growth concerns and with the dollar strengthening against some major currencies. Crude for June delivery ended down $0.96 or 1.0 percent at $94.21 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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Market Analysis
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.