TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, accelerating more than 1,200 points or 2.7 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just beneath the 45,770-point plateau although the rally may stall on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky as the U.S. government shutdown continues. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The Nikkei finished sharply higher on Friday with gains across the board, especially among the technology stocks, financial shares and automobile producers.
For the day, the index surged 832.77 points or 1.85 percent to finish at 45,769.50 after trading between 45,042.54 and 45,778.66.
Among the actives, Nissan Motor accelerated 3.48 percent, while Mazda Motor added 0.58 percent, Toyota Motor strengthened 1.23 percent, Honda Motor improved 1.40 percent, Softbank Group expanded 3.55 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial jumped 1.74 percent, Mizuho Financial collected 1.48 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial climbed 1.07 percent, Mitsubishi Electric rallied 1.33 percent, Sony Group spiked 2.29 percent, Panasonic Holdings skyrocketed 7.07 percent and Hitachi surged 10.26 percent.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher on Friday but went off in different directions to finish mixed.
The Dow jumped 238.58 points or 0.51 percent to finish at a record 46,758.28, while the NASDAQ sank 63.59 points or 0.28 percent to end at 22,780.51 and the S&P 500 perked 0.44 points or 0.01 percent to close at 6,715.79, also a record. For the week, the NASDAQ rallied 1.3 percent, while the Dow and the S&P both rose 1.1 percent.
The NASDAQ sank on weakness from technology shares such as Palantir (PLTR), Tesla (TSLA) and Nvidia (NVDA).
The lackluster performance by the broader markets came as the ongoing U.S. government shutdown has led to the indefinite delay of key U.S. economic data, including Friday's closely watched monthly jobs report.
However, weak data from non-government sources has increased confidence that the Federal Reserve will continue cutting interest rates in the coming months.
Crude oil prices advanced on Friday amid U.S. dollar weakness as the government shutdown persisted. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $0.41 or 0.68 percent at $60.89 per barrel.
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