Nikkei Sets Another Record, Real Estate & Banks Lift Index
Japanese stocks closed higher on Friday, driven by gains in the real estate, banking, and textile sectors. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.36% and set a new record high at the end of the session.
The strengthening was also evident in the market's dominant breadth: advancing stocks outnumbered declining stocks by a ratio of 3,064 to 600, while 167 stocks remained unchanged. However, despite the index's rise, volatility also increased. The Nikkei Volatility Index surged 16.07% to 31.21, indicating the market remains sensitive to sharp movements between sectors.
Among the top gainers, Sumitomo Metal Mining (5713) surged 11.28% to 12,625, followed by DOWA Holdings (5714) which rose 10.63% to 11,550, and JGC Corp (1963) which strengthened 8.02% to 2,477. Several stocks even reportedly hit new all-time highs/multi-year highs, confirming the continued active buying interest in certain stocks.
Conversely, pressure came from technology/semiconductor-related stocks. Advantest (6857) fell 4.53% to 26,850, Disco (6146) weakened 4.51% to 75,500, and Dainippon Screen (7735) fell 3.23% to 22,925. These corrections indicate the market is not moving uniformly despite the index's strengthening.
In commodity markets, oil also strengthened: WTI April rose 0.83% to $65.75/barrel, while Brent May rose 0.66% to $71.31/barrel. April gold futures edged up 0.16% to $5,202.50 per troy ounce, maintaining a defensive bias.
In the foreign exchange market, USD/JPY edged down 0.12% to 155.95 and EUR/JPY fell 0.04% to 184.06. Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index futures edged down 0.04% to 97.70, giving some room for riskier assets in Asia but not enough to erase the increased volatility. (alg)
Source: Newsmaker.id
