The Japanese market is trading modestly lower on Friday after opening in the green, extending the losses in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 62,550 level, with weakness in technology stocks partially offset by gains in automaker and financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 131.68 points or 0.21 percent to 62,522.37, after touching a high of 63,235.77 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Thursday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining more than 2 percent and Honda is jumping more than 7 percent.
In the tech space, Screen Holdings is declining almost 5 percent and Advantest is losing more than 3 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.5 percent.
In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is adding more than 1 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is advancing almost 2 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining more than 2 percent.
Among the major exporters, Panasonic and Canon are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Sony is advancing more than 4 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 1 percent.
Among other major losers, Dowa Holdings is plummeting 22 percent, JGC Holdings is plunging more than 14 percent, Socionext is tumbling 8 percent, Fanuc is sliding 7 percent and Honda Motor is slipping 6.4 percent, while Sharp and Sumitomo Metal Mining are declining more than 5 percent each. Konica Minolta, Kirin Holdings, Tokio Marine and Aozora Bank are losing more than 4 percent each, while Kanadevia, Taiyo Yuden and ENEOS Holdings are down almost 4 percent each.
Conversely, NEXON is soaring 11,2 percent, SMC is jumping 9.8 percent and Sumco is surging 6.5 percent, while Olympus, Nisshin Seifun, Taisei, Kioxia Holdings and Toppan Holdings are gaining almost 5 percent each. NTN is advancing 4.3 percent, while Denka, Mitsubishi Chemical Group, BANDAI NAMCO and Suzuki Motor are adding almost 4 percent each. ARCHION is up more than 3 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 158 yen-range on Friday.
On Wall Street, the Dow showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Thursday, closing above 50,000 for the first time in three months, after ending the previous session modestly lower. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 also moved higher, adding to Wednesday's gains and once again reaching new record closing highs.
The major averages all finished the day firmly positive but off their highs of the session. The Dow advanced 370.26 points or 0.8 percent to 50,063.46, the Nasdaq jumped 232.88 points or 0.9 percent to 26,635.22 and the S&P 500 climbed 56.99 points or 0.9 percent to 7,501.24.
The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.5 percent.
Crude oil prices inched higher on Thursday as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut amid a lack of progress in U.S.-Iran peace efforts. West Texas Intermediate crude for June was up $0.29 or 0.29 percent at $101.31 per barrel.
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Market Analysis
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.