Olivia
February 10, Japan: Japan’s Nikkei share average ended Monday with minimal movement as investors balanced concerns over potential new U.S. tariffs against optimism following a smooth meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Nikkei closed with a slight gain of 0.04%, finishing at 38,801.17 after a volatile session. In contrast, the broader Topix index dipped 0.2% to 2,733.01.
Steelmakers limited their losses, with Nippon Steel dropping 0.5%, following Trump’s announcement of new 25% tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum imports. Tomo Kinoshita, a global market strategist at Invesco Asset Management Japan, noted that while the tariffs negatively impact exporters, the lack of surprise—given similar measures during Trump’s previous term—helped cushion the market response. Nevertheless, Kinoshita warned that caution over additional tariffs would persist, keeping markets on edge.
Investor sentiment was buoyed by Prime Minister Ishiba’s first White House summit, which concluded without significant issues. Hiroshi Namioka, chief strategist at T&D Asset Management, noted that the meeting provided some support to Japanese equities. Trump expressed optimism about resolving Japan’s trade surplus with the U.S. swiftly while refraining from announcing Japan-specific tariffs.
Japanese markets will be closed on Tuesday for a public holiday.
Among notable individual stock performances, Taiyo Yuden surged 22.1% following an upward earnings forecast revision. E-commerce and gaming firm DeNA soared 23.1%, while Fujikura, a fiber manufacturer for data centers, rose 7.1%. However, market heavyweights Fast Retailing and SoftBank Group weighed down the Nikkei, declining 1.2% and 1.9%, respectively.
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Kathy
Stacy
