The Japanese market is notably higher on Thursday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 59,850 level, with gains in index heavyweights and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in automakers, exporters and financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 290.17 points or 0.49 percent to 59,876.03, after touching a high of 60,013.98 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Wednesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is surging more than 5 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging down 0.3 percent and Honda is edging down 0.5 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is advancing more than 2 percent, Tokyo Electron is gaining almost 2 percent and Screen Holdings is edging up 0.5 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is down more than 1 percent, while Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are losing almost 1 percent each.
Among the major exporters, Panasonic is losing more than 1 percent, Canon is edging down 0.4 percent, Sony is declining almost 2 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is down almost 1 percent.
Among other major gainers, Socionext and Renesas Electronics are jumping almost 7 percent each, while Hitachi is advancing more than 4 percent and Hitachi is gaining almost 4 percent. Kioxia Holdings, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Fuji Electric are adding more than 3 percent each, while Hitachi Construction Machinery and Inpex are up almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, BayCurrent is tumbling more than 7 percent, while SHIFT is slipping almost 7 percent, while NEC and Recruit Holdings are losing more than 4 percent each. Idemitsu Kosan and Tokyo Electric Power are declining almost 4 percent each, while Nikon, J. Front Retailing, Nomura Research Institute and Murata Manufacturing are losing more than 3 percent each. Aeon, Nitori Holdings, Tokio Marine, NSK and Resonac Holdings are down almost 3 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 159 yen-range on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Wednesday, more than offsetting the pullback seen over the two previous sessions. With the upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs.
The Nasdaq and S&P 500 saw further upside going into the close, ending the day just off their highs of the session. The Nasdaq surged 397.60 points or 1.6 percent to 24,657.57 and the S&P 500 jumped 73.89 points or 1.1 percent to 7,137.90. The narrower Dow gave back ground after an early advance but still ended the day firmly positive, closing up 340.65 points or 0.7 percent at 49,490.03.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 1 percent, the German DAX Index fell by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.2 percent.
Crude oil prices soared Wednesday thanks to supply disruption concerns due to the ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was up $3.54 or 3.95 percent at $93.21 per barrel.
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Market Analysis
April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.