"Asian Stocks" Nikkei fluctuated and rose 68 points in the half-day, semiconductor equipment and resource stocks performed well, while bank stocks were soft

The night before (23rd), the three major U.S. stock indices performed well, with the S&P 500 index closing up 0.46% at 6,909 points, setting a new historical closing high. Spot gold prices first broke through the $4,500 per ounce mark, reaching a historical high. The Japanese yen continued to rise nearly 0.3% during the Asian session, with the USD/JPY exchange rate falling to 155.8. The Nikkei index opened 62 points higher this morning (24th) and rose by 224 points at one point, reaching a high of 50,636 points before encountering resistance, closing up 68 points or 0.14% at 50,481 points.

Semiconductor equipment stocks outperformed the market, with Soitec (6526.JP), Tokyo Electron (8035.JP), and Nvidia supplier Advantest (6857.JP) rising between 1.3% and 1.9%, Kioxia (285A.JP) up 4.5%, and Screen Holdings (7735.JP) up 9.5%.

Resource stocks performed well, with Sumitomo Metal Mining (5713.JP), Mitsubishi Materials (5711.JP), and Toho Zinc (5714.JP) rising between 3.5% and 6%.

Blue-chip stocks showed mixed results, with Fast Retailing (9983.JP) down less than 0.1%, Hitachi (6501.JP) down 0.4%, Tokyo Electric Power (9501.JP) down 1.1%, SoftBank (9984.JP) down 1.8%, while Panasonic (6752.JP) rose 2.1%.

Major bank stocks were soft, with Mizuho (8411.JP) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (8306.JP) each falling over 1%, Resona Holdings (8308.JP) down 2%, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial (8316.JP) down 0.5%