"Asian Stocks" Nikkei Index rose 16 points throughout the day, Advantest surged 5% after earnings, heavy industry and automotive stocks climbed

Japanese stocks fluctuated upward, with profit-taking in semiconductor-related stocks, but Advantest's rise supported the market. The Nikkei average opened down 57 points, initially falling 368 points to a low of 52,990 points before rebounding, rising 383 points to a high of 53,742 points, and closing up 16 points at 53,375 points.

Advantest (6857.JP) reported a 64% year-on-year increase in quarterly operating profit and raised its full-year operating profit forecast by 21%, with its stock price rising 5.2%. Shin-Etsu Chemical (4063.JP) fell over 10% yesterday (28th) but rebounded 0.9% for the day. In other artificial intelligence and semiconductor stocks, SoftBank (9984.JP) and Kioxia (285A.JP) rose 1.5% and 1.6%, while Discus (6146.JP), Raytech (6920.JP), and Tokyo Electron (8035.JP) fell between 4.5% and 5.6%. Wire stocks such as Furukawa Electric (5801.JP) and Fujikura (5803.JP) fell 4.1% and 3%, while Sumitomo Electric (5802.JP) dropped 2.1%.

Heavy industry stocks Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011.JP), Kawasaki Heavy Industries (7012.JP), and IHI (7013.JP) rose between 2.1% and 2.7%. Automotive stocks Toyota (7203.JP) and Honda (7267.JP) increased by 3% and 2.2%. In other stocks, Fast Retailing (9983.JP) fell 0.4%, Nintendo (7974.JP) and Isetan Mitsukoshi (3099.JP) dropped 2.3% and 1.7%, while banking stocks Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (8306.JP) and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial (8316.JP) rose 1% and 1.4%. Trading companies Marubeni (8002.JP) and Mitsui & Co. (8031.JP) increased by 1.3% and 1.6%, and electric power stock Tokyo Electric Power (9501.JP) rose 2.4%. Gold and silver prices hit new highs, with resource stock Sumitomo Metal Mining (5713.JP) rising 9.5%.

The exchange rate of the US dollar to the Japanese yen is 153.04