FX.co ★ Win Streak May Continue For Japan Stock Market

The Japanese stock market has experienced consecutive gains, accumulating nearly 500 points, marking a 1.2 percent increase. The Nikkei 225 index currently hovers slightly above the 39,510 level and is poised for further advancement on Friday.

A positive outlook is anticipated for Asian markets, buoyed by expected support from oil, gold, and technology sectors. Following the upward trend in European and U.S. markets on Thursday, Asian exchanges are forecasted to mirror this progression.

On Thursday, the Nikkei posted modest gains, despite a mixed performance among financial, technology, and automotive stocks. The index rose by 99.19 points, or 0.25 percent, closing at 39,513.97, after fluctuating between 39,221.36 and 39,600.93.

Notable market movements included Nissan Motor's 1.42 percent increase, Mazda Motor's 1.78 percent rise, and a 0.65 percent gain for Toyota Motor. Conversely, Honda Motor decreased by 0.34 percent. Softbank Group fell by 1.06 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial edged down 0.25 percent, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial declined by 0.38 percent. On a positive note, Panasonic Holdings surged by 3.12 percent and Hitachi climbed 1.95 percent.

The sentiment from Wall Street is optimistic, as major indices opened strongly on Thursday, experienced some volatility, but overall ended in positive territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 168.61 points, or 0.38 percent, finishing at 44,882.13. The NASDAQ increased by 49.43 points, or 0.25 percent, to 19,681.75, while the S&P 500 added 31.86 points, or 0.53 percent, closing at 6,071.17.

The late session saw significant declines following President Donald Trump's announcement of impending 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico starting February 1. However, a late-session rebound reflected market volatility, driven by earnings reports.

Companies such as IBM Corp. and Meta Platforms exceeded earnings expectations, while Microsoft's and UPS's results met forecasts but offered disappointing outlooks.

Oil futures edged higher on Thursday due to the anticipated drop in supply affected by possible tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, coupled with support from a weaker dollar. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for March delivery rose by $0.11, settling at $72.73 per barrel.

Domestically, Japan is set to release a comprehensive set of data, including December figures for unemployment, industrial production, retail sales, construction orders, and housing starts, along with January’s Tokyo inflation data.

The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 2.5 percent. Industrial production is projected to see a 0.3 percent increase month-on-month, following a 2.2 percent decline in November. Retail sales are anticipated to have risen by 3.4 percent annually, up from the previous month's 2.8 percent. Meanwhile, construction orders decreased by 10.2 percent year-on-year and housing starts declined by 1.8 percent in November. Tokyo's year-on-year inflation increased by 3.0 percent, with core CPI rising by 2.4 percent.