The Japanese stock market is trading notably higher Friday with investors tracking the overnight positive close on Wall Street, where stronger-than-expected data on U.S. jobless claims buoyed up sentiment to an extent.
A slightly weaker yen and fairly encouraging Japanese GDP data too are contributing to the surge in the Japanese market. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index is up 181.4 points or 2% at 9,279.8
The mood is so bullish at present that just 13 stocks out of the 225-stock strong Nikkei index are in negative territory.
Machinery, automobile, technology and marine transport stocks are mostly trading higher. Electric power, banking and pulp & paper stocks are trading mixed.
Canon Inc., Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Marui Group, Fast Retailing, Japan Tobacco, Konica Minolta, NTT Data Corp., Mizuho Securities, Sharp Corp., Mitsubishi Rayon, Daiwa House and J Front Retailing are up 3%-5%.
Pioneer Corp., Advantest, JX HD, Mitsubishi Chemicals, Suzuki Motor, Mitsui Engineering, Mazda Motor, Seven & I Holding, Nissan Chemicals and Nisshin Steel are also trading sharply higher.
Japan's gross domestic product expanded a revised 0.4% percent in the second quarter of 2010 compared to the previous three months, the Cabinet Office said Friday - topping last month's preliminary reading of 0.1%. On an annualized basis, GDP jumped 1.5% - blowing past the preliminary mark that showed a 0.4% gain.
Nominal GDP was down 0.6% on quarter versus the 0.9% decline indicated last month. The revised deflator showed a 1.7% decline after posting an initial reading of -1.8%.
Capex also saw a big jump, revised up to a 1.5% increase from 0.5% gain.
Members of the Bank of Japan have pledged to maintain indefinitely the current extremely accommodative monetary conditions, minutes from the bank's monetary policy meeting on August 9-10 revealed on Friday.
The board members also acknowledged that the surging yen is likely to hurt exporters and could force production sits to move abroad, the minutes showed. The board members agreed to closely monitor the yen and its impact.
At the meeting, the BoJ maintained its key interest rate at 0.10%, in line with expectations. The bank also withheld from unveiling further support measures to tackle deflation. The bank also maintained its economic assessment, saying that the nation is seeing "further signs of a moderate recovery," induced by improvements in emerging economies.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the upper 83 yen range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 84.14 to the U.S. dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, South Korea and Taiwan are up with notable gains, while Australia, Shanghai and New Zealand are trading modestly higher. Markets across the region ended mostly higher on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed with modest gains on Thursday, as jobless claims fell by more than forecast, although dark clouds from the European financial crisis limited the upside.
The major averages saw some downside in late-session dealing but managed to end the day above the unchanged line. The Dow edged up by 28.2 points or 0.3% to 10,415.2, the Nasdaq advanced by 7.3 points or 0.3% to 2,236.2 and the S&P 500 ended up 5.3 points or 0.5% at 1,104.2.
Major European markets ended with strong gains on Thursday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index and the French CAC 40 index both jumped by 1.2%, while the German DAX index ended 0.9% up.
Crude oil prices settled lower on Thursday, reversing from a multi-week high reached during the session as traders cashed in profits. Modest strength in the greenback also weighed. Light, sweet crude for October delivery settled down US$0.42 at US$74.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after trading as high as US$75.96.
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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.