"Asian Stocks" Nikkei fluctuated slightly higher by 10 points throughout the day, Tokyo Electric Power Company rose by 2% as reports indicate that Japan's largest nuclear power plant will restart on January 20

The yuan rose over 0.6% during the Asian session, while the dollar fell against the yen to 156.06. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated that Japan's debt level remains high and rejected any irresponsible bond issuance or tax reduction measures. Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki indicated that Japan has the right to take bold actions regarding exchange rate fluctuations, believing that the current volatility is speculative and does not reflect the fundamentals.

The Nikkei index opened 27 points lower this morning (23rd) but initially rose by 142 points, reaching a high of 50,544 points before facing resistance. In the afternoon, it briefly fell by 137 points, hitting a low of 50,264 points before stabilizing, ultimately closing up 10 points or 0.02% at 50,412 points.

Pharmaceutical stocks performed well, with Shionogi (4507.JP) and Takeda Pharmaceutical (4502.JP) rising by 3% to 3.1%, and Sumitomo Pharma (4506.JP) increasing by 1.2%.

SoftBank (9984.HK) slightly retraced by 0.5% after a sharp rise of about 4% the previous day. Semiconductor equipment stocks were weak, with Tokyo Electron (8035.JP), Soitec (6526.JP), and Nvidia supplier Advantest (6857.JP) falling between 0.3% and 1.9%.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (9501.JP) closed up 2.4%. According to NHK, Tokyo Electric has officially decided to restart Unit 6 of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, Japan's largest nuclear power station located in Niigata Prefecture, on January 20, 2026. Rakuten Group (4755.JP) closed up 3.3%.

Major automotive stocks weakened, with Mitsubishi Motors (7211.JP), Honda (7267.JP), Toyota (7203.JP), Nissan (7201.JP), and Suzuki (7269.JP) falling between 1.1% and 1.6%, while Subaru (7270.JP) and Mazda (7261.JP) each dropped by 2.9%