The Nikkei Index rose 262 points or 0.5% in the half-day session, led by trading companies and shipping stocks

Japanese stocks rose in the early market, driven by the rebound of U.S. stocks the previous night (16th), but the semiconductor stocks' high-level pullback limited the market's upward momentum. The Nikkei average opened up 535 points, initially rising 637 points to a high of 54,388 points before the gains narrowed, closing up 262 points or 0.5% at 54,013 points.

Trading companies and shipping stocks led the gains, with Itochu (8001.JP), Marubeni (8002.JP), and Sumitomo Corporation (8053.JP) rising 2.3% to 2.8%, while Mitsubishi Corporation (8058.JP) and Mitsui & Co. (8031.JP) rose 3.9% and 5.6%. Nippon Yusen (9101.JP) and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (9107.JP) rose 8% and 9.4%, while Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (9104.JP) rose 5.5%. Bank stocks Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.JP) and Mizuho Financial Group (8411.JP) also rose 1.4% and 1.1%.

Artificial intelligence and semiconductor stocks generally retreated, with SoftBank (9984.JP), Avantest (6857.JP), and Discotek (6146.JP) falling 1% to 1.6%, and Raytech (6920.JP) down 3.1%. Tokyo Electron (8035.JP) rose 0.1%, while Kioxia (285A.JP) fell 0.7%. Wire stocks Furukawa Electric (5801.JP) and Sumitomo Electric (5802.JP) fell 4.1% and 3.8%, while Fujikura (5803.JP) fell 2.3%. Heavy industry stocks Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011.JP) and IHI (7013.JP) rose 2.5% and 2.2%. Metal stocks JX Metals (5016.JP) fell 1.3%.

In other stocks, Fast Retailing (9983.JP) rose 0.3%, while Sony (6758.JP) and Nintendo (7974.JP) fell 1.9% and 2.2%. Sanrio (8136.JP) and Nissan (7201.JP) rose 2.4% and 2.8%, while department store company Mitsukoshi Isetan (3099.JP) rose 3.7%.

The exchange rate of the dollar against the yen is 159.34