A lower open is projected Thursday for Japan stocks, as global concerns about Greek debt weighed on markets overseas. Wall Street stocks closed sharply lower.
A weaker yen and a rebound by the utility companies helped send Japan's market higher on Wednesday.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 average closed up 26.53 points or 0.28 percent at 9,574,32.
The TOPIX index of Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section trading was up 1.79 or 0.22 percent at 824.65.
Trading volume was 1.98 billion shares.
Advancing stocks outnumbered decliners 825 to 663 with 169 stocks unchanged.
Tokyo Electric Power jumped 32.0 percent on extreme volume, their second straight day of limit-up gains. Tohoku Electric Power rose 1.7 percent.
Honda Motor added 2.0 percent
U.S. markets moved sharply lower on Wednesday, weighed down by Greek debt worries and weak economic data. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 178.84 points or 1.48 percent at 11,897.27, the Nasdaq Composite was down 47.26 points or 1.76 percent at 2,631.46 and the S&P 500 index was down 22.45 points or 1.74 percent at 1,265.42.
The other major Asia/Pacific region markets closed mixed on Wednesday.
Hong Kong's hang Seng index was down 152.23 points or 0.68 percent at 22,343.77.
The Shanghai Composite index in China was down 24.61 points or 0.90 percent at 2,705.43.
In India, the BSE 40/SENSEX index closed down 176.42 points or 0.96 percent at 18,132.24.
The Jakarta Composite index in Indonesia was up 20.98 points or 0.56 percent at 1,794.25.
South Korea's KOSPI/Seoul Composite index was up 9.70 points or 0.47 percent at 2,086.53.
The Taiwan Weighted Index was up 2.24 points or 0.03 percent at 8,831.45.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.