The Japanese market is trading significantly higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous five sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 71,650 level, with gains in technology stocks partially offset by losses in exporters and financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 625.39 points or 0.88 percent to 71,678.88, after touching a high of 71,952.99 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Thursday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing almost 1 percent and Honda is edging down 0.1 percent.
In the tech space, Screen Holdings is gaining more than 3 percent and Advantest is advancing almost 5 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.1 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are declining more than 3 percent each.
Among the major exporters, Panasonic is gaining more than 2 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Canon are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Sony is losing more than 3 percent. Among other major gainers, Furukawa Electric is soaring more than 15 percent, Sumitomo Electric Industries is jumping more than 11 percent, Socionext is surging almost 7 percent, Renesas Electronics is advancing more than 6 percent, Kioxia Holdings is gaining almost 6 percent, Resonac Holdings is adding almost 5 percent, Omron is rising more than 4 percent and Isuzu Motors is up more than 3 percent, while Murata Manufacturing, Toppan Holdings, Disco, Sumitomo Heavy Industries and Toto are gaining almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, BayCurrent is plunging more than 10 percent, NEC is tumbling more than 6 percent and Dentsu Group is sliding more than 5 percent, while Sumitomo Metal Mining, Nomura Research Institute, Daiichi Sankyo, Fujitsu and Japan Exchange Group are declining almost 5 percent each. Subaru is declining more than 4 percent, while SHIFT, DeNA and Yokohama Financial Group are slipping almost 4 percent each.
In economic news, Japan's annual inflation rate edged higher to 1.5 percent in May 2026 from 1.4 percent in the previous month. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.4 percent, up from 0.1 percent in April.
Japan's core consumer price index, which excludes fresh food but includes energy, rose 1.4 percent year-on-year in May 2026, in line with both the previous figure and market forecasts It still marked the lowest level since March 2022 and remained below the Bank of Japan's 2% target for a fourth straight month.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan will on Friday release the minutes from its April 27-28 monetary policy meeting. At the meeting, the BoJ voted 6-3 to retain its key interest rate around 0.75 percent and upgraded its inflation outlook citing higher global crude oil prices due to the Iran war. The policy assessment added to expectations for an interest rate hike in the near-term.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 161 yen-range on Friday.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a significant move back to the upside in early trading on Thursday and continued to turn in a strong performance throughout the day, after coming under pressure late in the previous session.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way higher, surging 496.28 points or 1.9 percent to 26,517.93. The S&P 500 also jumped 80.48 points or 1.1 percent to 7,500.58, while the narrower Dow posted a much more modest gain, inching up 72.15 points or 0.1 percent to 51,564.70.
Meanwhile, the major European markets also ended the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both climbed by 0.4 percent.
Crude oil prices edged lower on Thursday after the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the resumption of the free flow of oil from the gulf. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $0.53 or 0.69 percent at $76.26 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.