The Nikkei 225 Index Closes 0.87% Lower

The Nikkei 225 Index gained 1860 points or 2.90 percent on Friday to close at 66078 points. Gains were led by Mitsui Mining & Smelting (16.98%), Sumitomo Metal Mining (11.49%) and Lasertec Corp (10.35%).

The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 2.81% to close at 66,020, while the broader Topix Index climbed 1.35% to 3,882 on Friday, as Japanese equities rebounded from earlier-week losses after President Donald Trump said a peace agreement with Iran could be signed as soon as this weekend in Europe, sending oil prices sharply lower. Japan's economy remains vulnerable to geopolitical developments in the Middle East due to its heavy dependence on oil imports from the region. Investor sentiment was also lifted ahead of SpaceX's Wall Street debut, with the company expected to raise about $75 billion at a projected market valuation of $1.78 trillion. Technology and AI-related stocks led the gains, with Kioxia Holdings rising 7.6%, Tokyo Electron surging 7.3%, SoftBank Group adding 1.5% and Advantest advancing 8.5%. Financial and consumer shares also strengthened, including Sumitomo Mitsui up 3.3%, Mizuho Financial gaining 2.3 and Fast Retailing rising 2.6%.

The Nikkei 225 Index edged up 0.06% to close at 64,217 on Thursday, recovering after tumbling as much as 2.87% earlier in the session as the US military announced it had completed its latest strikes on Iran, boosting hopes that peace negotiations could resume. However, technology stocks remained under pressure amid lingering concerns over elevated AI-related valuations, weighing on Japanese companies with significant exposure to the global AI boom. Domestically, the Bank of Japan is widely expected to raise interest rates next week as policymakers grapple with soaring energy costs linked to the Middle East conflict. Among individual stocks, Kioxia Holdings (7%), Taiyo Yuden (6.2%), and Murata Manufacturing (3.7%) posted strong gains, while SoftBank Group (-1.4%), Fujikura (-1.2%), and Toyota Motor (-2.4%) ended sharply lower.