The Nikkei Average continued to rise for the fourth consecutive day. It closed at 40,425.37 yen (approximately 840 million shares) in the morning trading, up 350.68 yen (+0.88%) from the previous day.
On the US stock market on the 2nd, the Dow Jones average rose 162.33 points (+0.41%) to 39,331.85, the Nasdaq index rose 149.46 points (+0.84%) to 18,028.76, and the S&P 500 rose 33.92 points (+0.62%) to 5,509.01 at the end of trading. While profits were taken as a precaution before the release of the June employment statistics for the weekend, which led to a decline in the opener, remarks by Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), that "inflation is again slowing down" led to a decline in long-term interest rates and supported the market, as well as major high-tech stocks like Amazon and Apple. The Nasdaq index and the S&P 500 reached new all-time highs.
On the Tokyo market, which was bolstered by the rise of US stocks, buying was dominant. Apple-related and semiconductor stocks continued to rise, and financial stocks such as insurance and banks, which had been the driving force behind Japanese stocks so far, showed some signs of slowing down. The Nikkei Average showed a stronger movement than the TOPIX. The transaction value of the prime market in the morning was 2.1 trillion yen, putting it in the 2 trillion yen range for consecutive days.
In the Nikkei Average adopted stocks, Apple-related stocks stood out, such as Solar Power <6976>, Murata Manufacturing <6981>, TDK <6762>, Kyocera <6971>, and Alps Alpine <6770>, due to the influence of Apple reaching a new all-time high. In addition, semiconductor stocks such as Screen HD <7735>, Renesas Electronics <6723>, Disco <6146>, SUMCO <3436>, Tokyo Electron <8035>, and Advantest <6857> were also bought. Defense-related Mitsubishi Heavy <7011>, IHI <7013>, Kawasaki Heavy <7012> also rose.
Meanwhile, insurance stocks such as Tokio Marine＜8766＞, MS & AD＜8725＞, and SOMPO Holdings＜8630＞, which had been rising strongly, fell, as did regional bank stocks such as Chiba Bank ＜8331＞, Shizuoka FG ＜5831＞, Fukuoka ＜8354＞, and Concordia ＜7186＞. Yokohama Rubber＜5101＞ and Bridgestone＜5108＞ were also lackluster.
By industry, machinery, marine transportation, chemicals, other financing, glass and stone products rose, while petroleum and coal products, rubber products, insurance, mining, and transportation equipment fell.
The afternoon Tokyo market is also expected to be dominated by high-tech shareholders and be in a favorable position for the Nikkei average, but trading in the afternoon is expected to be thin due to half-day trading before Independence Day in the US market tonight. The exchange rate has leveled off at around 161.60 yen per dollar, and the mood to carefully watch important US economic indicators tonight (ADP employment figures, trade balance, ISM non-manufacturing business index, FOMC meeting minutes, etc.) is growing stronger. From tonight to tomorrow the 4th, participation is expected to decrease due to US Independence Day holidays and others, so the exchange rate is likely to be quiet. There are also voices saying that the government and the Bank of Japan may intervene in the market to buy yen during the US holiday on the 4th, so further weakening of the yen and strengthening of the dollar in the afternoon is likely to be avoided.