The Japanese market is trading sharply higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous four sessions, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 71,100 level to all-time highs, with strong gains in technology and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in automaker stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 1,207.94 points or 1.73 percent to 71,110.19, after touching an all-time high of 71,395.07 earlier. Japanese stocks ended notably higher on Wednesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is advancing more than 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging down 0.5 percent and Honda is losing almost 1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is adding almost 1 percent, Screen Holdings is surging almost 7 percent and Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 3 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are all gaining more than 3 percent each.
Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is advancing more than 4 percent and Panasonic is gaining almost 3 percent, while Sony is losing almost 1 percent. Canon is flat.
Among other major gainers, Murata Manufacturing is soaring more than 12 percent, Socionext is surging more than 9 percent, and Recruit Holdings is jumping almost 8 percent, while Ajinomoto and Mitsubishi Electric are rising almost 6 percent each. Ibiden and UBE are advancing more than 5 percent each, while Resona Holdings, Renesas Electronics and Fuji Electric are gaining more than 4 percent each. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Yaskawa Electric are adding almost 4 percent each.
Conversely, Konami Group, DeNA and Nissan Motor are declining almost 3 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 160 yen-range on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks saw significant volatility immediately following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday but came under considerable selling pressure in the latter part of the trading session.
The major averages all showed significant moves to the downside, closing firmly in negative territory. The Nasdaq plunged 354.69 points or 1.3 percent to 26,021.66, the S&P 500 tumbled 91.25 points or 1.2 percent to 7,420.10 and the Dow slumped 507.12 points or 1 percent to 51,492.55.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both inched up by 0.1 percent.
Crude oil prices ticked higher on Wednesday as energy experts remain skeptical of an early restoration of normal oil trade in the gulf region despite the upcoming U.S.-Iran deal. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was up $0.45 or 0.59 percent at $76.50 per barrel.
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Market Analysis
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.