The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Wednesday with investors going on a buying spree, buoyed by encouraging trade data, a weaker yen and the overnight strong close on Wall Street.
With several key stocks from across various sectors surging higher, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index is currently trading up 278.7 points or 2.1 percent at 13,286.
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, the biggest gainer in the Nikkei index, is up more than 10 percent. Tokuyama Corp. is trading 7.2 percent up. Nippon Yusen KK, JTEKT Corp., Kobe Steel, JFE Holdings, Mitsui OSK Lines, Pacific Metals and Hitachi Zosen are up 5 to 6 percent.
Softbank Corp. shares are up 5.2 percent following an announcement from its rival Dish Network Corp. that it will not make a new offer for Sprint Nextel Corp. (S).
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, NTN Corp., Furukawa Electric, Mitsubishi Materials, Japan Steel Works, NSK and Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings are all trading higher by over 4 percent.
Astellas Pharma is trading higher by about 3.6 percent on reports the company is planning to sell its dermatology assets.
Citizen Holdings, Dainippon Screen Manufacturing, Showa Shell Sekiyu, Toho Zinc, Toyo Seikan Group Holdings, Bank of Yokohama, Konica Minolta and Sumitomo Heavy Industries are up 3 to 4 percent.
Among the losers, Panasonic Corp. (PC), Daikin Industries, Hitachi and Tokyo Dome are down 1 to 1.4 percent. Japan Tobacco, Tokyo Electric Power, TDK Corp. and Sony Corp. (SNE) are down with modest losses.
In economic news, Japan saw a merchandise trade deficit of 993.916 billion yen in May, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. That beat forecasts for a shortfall of 1.22 trillion yen following the downwardly revised deficit of 881.9 billion yen (originally 879.9 trillion yen).
Exports surged 10.1 percent on year, topping forecasts for a gain of 6.4 percent after adding 3.8 percent in April. Imports climbed an annual 10.0 percent versus expectations for 11.0 percent after gaining a revised 9.5 percent in the previous month (originally 9.4 percent).
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the upper 95 yen range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 95.48 to the U.S. dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Malaysia and Taiwan are trading notably higher. Shanghai is up marginally, while Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea are trading weak.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong upward move on Tuesday, despite traders expressing some uncertainty ahead of Wednesday's Federal Reserve announcement. A positive reaction to a report from the Commerce Department showing a notable rebound by housing starts in the month of May aided the surge.
The Dow surged up 138.4 points or 0.9 percent to 15,318.2, the Nasdaq advanced 30.1 points or 0.9 percent to 3,482.2 and the S&P 500 climbed 12.8 points or 0.8 percent to 1,651.8.
Major European markets ended on a mixed note on Tuesday. While the French CAC 40 index dipped by 0.1 percent, the German DAX index gained 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index advanced by 0.7 percent.
U.S. crude oil settled higher on Tuesday, ahead of the weekly crude oil inventories report and on supply concerns stemming from the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East as violence continued unabated in Syria.
Crude for July delivery ended up $0.67 or 0.7 percent at $98.44 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.