The Japan stock market on Monday more than reversed the losses from its previous session, posting its biggest one-day rally in a month. The Nikkei 225 finished above the 9,600-point plateau, although now investors are bracing for renewed selling pressure at the opening of trade on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets calls for a modest correction following solid gains in the previous session. Technology stocks may be especially susceptible to profit taking, along with financial shares and property stocks - while investors resumed flocking to gold as a safe haven. The European and U.S. markets ended with mild weakness, and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow that lead.
The Nikkei finished sharply higher on Monday, powered by the exporters including technology stocks and automobile producers.
For the day, the index surged 131.47 points or 1.31 percent to finish at 9,603.14 after trading between 9,539.12 and 9,613.47 on turnover of 1.67 billion shares. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues was up 10.89 points, or 1.30 percent to 849.30.
Among the gainers, Fanuc Ltd surged 3.17 percent, while Kyocera Corp. climbed 2.89 percent, Tokyo Electron gained 2.00 percent, Advantest Corp. rose 1.93 percent, Denso Corp. was higher 2.90 percent, Mitsumi Electric Co., increased 1.83 percent, Canon Inc. climbed 2.50 percent, Sony Corp. advanced 1.43 percent, Sharp Corp. gained 1.89 percent and Panasonic Corp. surged up 3.02 percent.
Also moving higher, Honda Motor Co., climbed 2.87 percent, while Toyota Motor added 1.14 percent, Suzuki Motor Corp. advanced 1.05 percent, Nissan Motor Co. gained 2.44 percent, Isuzu Motors surged up 3.37 percent, Mazda Motors rose 2.02 percent, Mitsubishi Motors advanced 0.93 percent, Mitsubishi Corp. soared 3.24 percent, Mitsui & Co. Ltd climbed 3.31 percent, Sumitomo Corp. surged 3.10 percent, Itochu Corp. was up by 3.63 percent and Toyota Tsusho Corp. increased 1.45 percent.
Wall Street puts forth a negative lead as stocks saw moderate weakness to open the week on Monday, with the lack of significant economic reports leading to some profit taking following last week's strong gains. Nonetheless, movement was subdued ahead of a number of key economic reports due out later this week.
Amid the day's light economic calendar, corporate news was the highlight of the day, with retail giant Wal-Mart (WMT) revealing a bid to acquire South African Massmart Holdings Ltd. for roughly $4.25 billion or $21.13 per share. Massmart is a leading African retailer of general merchandise, home improvement equipment and supplies.
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) also announced that it entered an agreement to acquire AirTran Holdings Inc. (AAI) for approximately $1.4 billion, including debt.
Additionally, aircraft components producer TransDigm Group Inc. (TDG) entered an agreement to purchase McKechnie Aerospace Holdings Inc., a privately-owned supplier of aerospace products, for about $1.27 billion in cash on a cash free, debt free basis.
Anglo-Dutch consumer products maker Unilever PLC (UL) also announced a definitive deal to acquire U.S.-based Alberto-Culver Co. (ACV) for $3.7 billion in cash. Unilever expects the acquisition to be accretive to earnings in the first full year, excluding restructuring costs.
In earnings news, Cal-Maine Foods Inc.'s (CALM) reported first-quarter net income of $0.20 per share while analysts projected a loss of $0.07 for the quarter. Revenues also topped expectations.
The major averages moved to the downside in late-session dealing, ending near their worst levels of the day. The Dow slid by 48.22 points or 0.4 percent to 10,812.04, the NASDAQ fell by 11.45 points or 0.5 percent to 2,369.77 and the S&P 500 dropped by 6.51 points or 0.6 percent to 1,142.16.
In economic news, Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 103.2 billion yen in August, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday - down 37.5 percent on year. It was well below analyst expectations for a 200 billion yen surplus following the revised 802.0 billion yen surplus in July.
Exports were up 15.8 percent on year - again missing forecasts for a 19.0 percent increase following the 23.5 percent surge in the previous month. Imports jumped 17.9 percent, exceeding expectations for a 17.5 percent gain after collecting a revised 15.7 percent a month earlier.
The adjusted merchandise trade balance showed a surplus of 589.7 billion yen, beating forecasts for a 522.1 billion yen surplus following the 594.8 billion yen surplus in July.
Also, the Bank of Japan said that an index measuring corporate service prices in Japan was down 1.1 percent on year in August, posting a score of 96.8. That was slightly better than forecasts for a 1.2 percent annual contraction following the revised 1.1 percent fall in July - which had an original reading of -1.2 percent on year. On a monthly basis, corporate service prices eased 0.4 percent following the revised 0.3 percent decline in July.
Finally, Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa on Monday said the central bank "will pay close attention" to developments in currency markets and their impact on exporting firms. The comments came on a day in which official figures showed that exports slowed for the sixth straight month.
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April 24, 2026 15:15 ET Economics news flow was relatively light this week even as the conflict in the Middle East continued, raising concerns for policymakers. In the U.S., spending data, initial jobless claims and pending home sales were the highlights. Business confidence in the biggest euro area economy was in focus in Europe. Inflation data from Japan gained attention in Asia.