The Nikkei 225 Index Closes 1.35% Higher

The Nikkei 225 Index went up by 915 points or 1.35 percent on Thursday to close at 68439 points. The rise was led by Murata Manufacturing (11.36%), Toppan (10.47%) and Taiyo Yuden (7.16%).

The Nikkei 225 Index rose 1.16% to close at 68,308 while the broader Topix Index climbed 0.89% to 4,176 on Thursday, with the latter hitting fresh record highs as subdued US inflation data eased pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in the near term. Markets now see around a 40% chance of a 25 basis point rate hike from the Fed in September, down from nearly 50% a day earlier. In Japan, producer prices rose 7.2% in July, easing slightly from 7.3% in June and coming in below forecasts of 7.4%. Technology and artificial intelligence-related stocks led the advance, with strong gains for Kioxia Holdings (3.9%), Taiyo Yuden (6.5%), Advantest (4%), Ibiden Co (5.3%) and Murata Manufacturing (10.3%). Bank stocks also performed well, including Mitsubishi UFJ (2.9%), Sumitomo Mitsui (1.6%) and Mizuho Financial (3.2%).

The Nikkei 225 Index rose 545 points or 0.81 percent on Wednesday to close at 67515 points. Leading the gains are Furukawa Electric (6.58%), Resonac Holdings (6.40%) and M3 (6.27%). Top losers were Rakuten (-13.22%), Nitori Holdings (-4.44%) and Sumitomo Metal Mining (-4.07%).