The Japanese stock market saw a significant increase on Monday, extending the upward trend observed over the previous two sessions. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index surged by 733.78 points or 1.90%, reaching 39,369.40, following a high of 39,514.57, buoyed by positive signals from Wall Street on Friday. This surge was characterized by notable gains in financial and technology sectors, driven by major market players.
Key contributors to the rise included SoftBank Group, which saw an increase of over 3%, and Fast Retailing, the operator of Uniqlo, which rose by more than 2%. In the automotive sector, Honda and Toyota both recorded gains exceeding 2%.
The technology sector also witnessed significant gains: Screen Holdings advanced nearly 4%, Advantest increased by 3.5%, and Tokyo Electron rose by nearly 1%.
In banking, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial climbed almost 4%, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial adding more than 4% and Mizuho Financial advancing close to 5%.
While major exporters like Canon and Mitsubishi Electric each gained around 2%, Panasonic increased by over 1%, and Sony added more than 4%. Additionally, Isetan Mitsukoshi soared over 8%, Resona Holdings surged almost 8%, Konami Group gained more than 6%, and Recruit Holdings added over 5%. Other notable risers, including Nomura Holdings, J. Front Retailing, Chiba Bank, Nitto Denko, Hitachi, Sumitomo Electric Industries, and MS&AD Insurance Group, all rose over 4%.
In contrast, Disco plunged more than 7%.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar was trading in the lower 148 yen range.
Wall Street experienced a rally on Friday, which drove major indices to close strongly. Positive non-farm payroll data helped alleviate concerns about Middle East tensions, encouraging investors to engage in significant purchasing across diverse sectors. The Dow reached a new record at 42,352.75, increasing by 341.16 points or 0.81%. The S&P 500 rose 51.13 points or 0.9% to close at 5,751.07, and the Nasdaq climbed 219.37 points or 1.22% to finish at 18,137.85.
In Europe, markets were mixed, with Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 rising by 0.55% and 0.85%, respectively, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 saw a slight decline.
Crude oil prices ended higher on Friday amid fears of a potential Israeli offensive on Iran's oil facilities, coupled with encouraging U.S. jobs data supporting oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November increased by $0.67 or 0.91% to $74.38 a barrel, marking a five-week high. Overall, WTI crude futures rose more than 9% for the week.