"Asia Stocks" Nikkei Index rises 569 points or 1% in the half-day, SoftBank up 5%, heavy industry and automotive stocks rise

Japanese stocks rose in the early market, driven by a significant increase in U.S. stocks last Friday (17th), with heavyweights attracting buying interest, pushing the market higher. The Nikkei average opened up 345 points and fluctuated upwards, rising as much as 637 points to reach 59,113 points, closing up 569 points or 1% at 59,045 points.

In the artificial intelligence and semiconductor sectors, SoftBank (9984.JP) and Renesas Electronics (6920.JP) rose by 5% and 5.6%, respectively, while Discus (6146.JP) and Kioxia (285A.JP) increased by 3% and 2.6%. Tokyo Electron (8035.JP) rose by 0.9%, and Advantest (6857.JP) fell by 0.8%. Fiber optic stocks Furukawa Electric (5801.JP) and Fujikura (5803.JP) rose by 0.1% and 0.6%.

In the heavy industry sector, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011.JP) and Kawasaki Heavy Industries (7012.JP) rose by 3.8% and 2.5%. In the metals sector, JX Metals (5016.JP) rose by 0.9%, while rare earth concept Mitsui Ocean Development (6269.JP) fell by 3.4%, and oil stock Inpex (1605.JP) dropped by 2.8%. Shipping stocks Nippon Yusen (9101.JP) and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (9104.JP) fell by 2.4%, while Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (9107.JP) dropped by 3%.

In other stocks, Fast Retailing (9983.JP) rose by 1%, while automotive stocks Honda (7267.JP) and Nissan (7201.JP) increased by 2.7% and 3%, respectively. Shiseido (4911.JP) rose by 2.4%, Tokyo Electric Power (9501.JP) fell by 1.4%, and Ryohin Keikaku (7453.JP) dropped by 3.3%. In the property and casualty insurance sector, Tokio Marine (8766.JP) rose by 3.7%, while Nidec (6594.JP) and Yaskawa Electric (6506.JP) increased by 7.1% and 6%.

The USD/JPY exchange rate is reported at 158.87