Overnight (16th), the three major U.S. indices rebounded, with the Dow rising 0.8% to close at 43,077, reaching a historical closing high. Semiconductor stocks rebounded, with AI chip leader NVIDIA (NVDA.US) rebounding over 3%. Central banks in multiple Asian countries announced interest rate decisions the previous day, with the Thai central bank surprisingly cutting rates by a quarter point; while the Indonesian central bank kept rates unchanged as expected; and the Philippine central bank also cut rates by a quarter point as anticipated. Market participants are monitoring the ECB's interest rate decision announcement today (17th), expecting a further quarter-point rate cut. Major stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region generally rose this morning, with the Australia 200 index hitting another record high.

Japanese exports in September fell by 1.7% year-on-year, below expectations, marking the first decline in ten months. The yen rebounded 0.2% against the dollar in Asian trading, with the dollar against the yen falling to 149.27. The Nikkei index reversed the previous day's decline, opening higher by 83 points this morning, but turned downwards in early trading, reversing course to decline 235 points or 0.6% by midday, closing at 38,944.

The Japan Nuclear Regulation Authority, responsible for regulating nuclear power generation in Japan, held its regular meeting yesterday (16th) and approved the 10-year extension of the operation of Unit 1 of the Kansai Electric Power's Takahama Nuclear Power Plant, which has been in operation for almost 50 years. This marks the first approval in Japan for a nuclear reactor operating for over 50 years to continue operations. Electric power stocks outperformed the broader market, with Tokyo Electric Power, Kansai Electric Power, and Chubu Electric Power rising 4.2% to 4.8%.

Major bank/investment bank stocks performed well, with Daiwa Securities Group up 0.8%, Resona Holdings, Nomura Holdings, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui, and Mizuho Financial Group rising 1% to 2%.

Major automobile stocks rose, with Honda up 0.7%, Toyota, Nissan, and Mitsubishi Motors rising 1.5% to 1.8%.

Weighted/popular stocks were somewhat soft, with Fast Retailing slightly down, Mitsukoshi Isetan, Seven & i Holdings, and SoftBank down 0.3% to 0.9%, while Rakuten fell 1.2%. Shiseido Company, Limited Sponsored ADR edged up by 0.2%.

ASML, the Dutch lithography equipment manufacturer, CEO Christophe Fouquet stated in an investor conference call that the expected recovery of the chip market will be delayed until after 2025; the company lowered its performance outlook for next year, triggering a more than 20% cumulative drop in share price over the past two trading days. Japanese semiconductor equipment peers under pressure followed suit, with Disco Corp, Advantest, Tokyo Electron, and Lasertec falling 2.3% to 3.3%.