The Nikkei 225 Index Closes 0.29% Higher

The Nikkei 225 Index went up by 185 points or 0.29 percent on Monday to close at 64797 points. The rise was led by Shiseido (8.24%), Bandai Namco Holdings (7.64%) and Konami (6.44%). On the downside, the weakerst performers were Shin-etsu Chemical (-8.06%), Chugai Pharma (-7.17%) and Fujikura (-5.81%).

The Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.5% to close at 64,931, while the broader Topix Index gained 1.37% to 4,066 on Monday, recovering some of the previous session's losses as oil prices fell sharply after the US held off on attacking Iran over the weekend, while Tehran also suspended its retaliatory operations. Japan remains heavily dependent on Middle Eastern oil imports, making its economy particularly sensitive to supply disruptions and swings in crude prices. On the domestic front, approval ratings for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi slipped as the government's measures to ease inflation continued to fall short of household expectations. Among individual stocks, notable gains were seen from Mitsubishi UFJ (1.2%), SUMCO Corp (3.8%), Nintendo (6.6%), Toyota Motor (2.4%) and Fast Retailing (1.5%). Meanwhile, technology stocks mostly declined following a tech selloff on Wall Street on Friday amid mounting concerns over massive AI spending.

The Nikkei 225 Index dropped 1839 points or 2.77 percent on Friday to close at 64584 points. Losses were led by Softbank (-7.57%), Mitsubishi Motors (-7.31%) and Renesas Electron (-7.24%).