Japan index hits record high on earnings boost, other Asian markets ease

The Star

9 hours ago

A screen displays the Nikkei 225 Stock Average figure at the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), operated by Japan Exchange Group Inc. (JPX), in Tokyo, Japan. - Photographer: Akio Kon/Bloomberg
SINGAPORE: Japanese shares surged on Friday after positive earnings reports and expectations the U.S. would remove overlapping tariffs on the country's goods, while shares were down in other Asian markets after a late retreat on Wall Street during the previous session.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.4% with Hong Kong's market leading declines, after U.S. stocks ended the previous session with mild losses after nearing a one-week high.
Meanwhile, Japanese stocks soared, with the Nikkei 225 up 2% and the Topix index hitting a fresh record, trading above 3,000 for the first time.
Shares in SoftBank Group rallied as much as 11% after the technology investor reported that it swung back to profit in the first quarter. Sony Group gained 6%, adding to its earnings-fuelled 4.1% advance from Thursday.
U.S. stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, were up 0.3%, while Nasdaq futures rose 0.4%, on track to extend gains into a third day.
The rally for stocks comes "against the backdrop of an emerging titanic dovish pivot at the Federal Reserve," said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG in Sydney.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would nominate Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Stephen Miran for the vacant seat at the Federal Reserve while the White House seeks a permanent addition to the central bank's governing board and continues its search for a new Fed chair.
The market is also digesting a Bloomberg News report that Fed Governor Christopher Waller is the top candidate to replace Chair Jerome Powell, whose term ends on May 15, 2026.
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes rose to 4.2461%, up from the U.S. close of 4.244% on Thursday, after weak demand at an auction of 30-year bonds, the latest in a string of lacklustre sales this week.
The rally for Japanese stocks follows a mixed bag of earnings reports for the country's biggest exporters, as some companies like Toyota Motor slashed their profit forecasts, while Sony and Honda said the impact would be less than feared.
As the effective date of recent U.S. trade duties arrived, Tokyo's trade negotiator said the U.S. government on Thursday promised it would fine-tune some of its overlapping tariffs on Japanese goods to avoid the duties being paid on some products twice.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.6%, with technology shares leading declines and China's blue-chip CSI 300 index slipped 0.1%. Australian stocks were 0.2% lower.
The dollar rose 0.1% against the yen to 147.27.
Japanese household spending data released Friday, which provides clues to consumption and wage trends that the Bank of Japan is monitoring to determine the timing of its next rate hike, rose at a slower-than-anticipated 1.3%.
The European single currency was flat at $1.1669, having gained 2.23% in a month, while the dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies of other major trading partners, was up 0.2% at 98.124.
In commodity markets, Brent futures were unchanged at $66.45, while U.S. crude futures were little changed at $63.81 a barrel. Gold was 0.4% lower, with bullion last trading at $3391.157 per ounce.
(Reporting by Gregor Stuart Hunter in Singapore; Editing by Jamie Freed)