Japan’s Nikkei Ends Higher on US-China Trade Deal Hopes

Reuters

16:56 JST, May 12, 2025

TOKYO, May 12 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei share average ended higher on Monday as indications of progress in U.S.-China trade talks boosted hopes of a deal between the major economies.

The Nikkei closed 0.38% higher at 37,644.26, after trading in the negative territory during the session.

The broader Topix rose 0.31% to finish at 2,742.08, marking a 12-day winning streak, its longest since October 2017.

The Sino-U.S. trade talks ended on a positive note on Sunday, with U.S. officials touting a “deal” to reduce the U.S. trade deficit, while Chinese officials said an “important consensus” was reached and agreed to launch another new economic dialog forum.

“Investors bought stocks on optimism that the trade talks between the U.S. and China made progress,” said Shuutarou Yasuda, a market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory.

“But gains were limited as they sold stocks on the rally. Both the Nikkei and Topix rose sharply, but those rallies were based just on expectations on the trade talk progress.”

The Nikkei has risen about 20% from its close on April 7, when it fell to a 1-1/2-year low after the announcement of sweeping U.S. tariffs.

The rally took the index to 7.75% above its 25-day average on Friday, an indication that the market was overheated, said Maki Sawada, senior strategist at Nomura Securities.

On the day, chip-testing equipment maker Advantest jumped 9% to provide the biggest boost to the Nikkei and was the top percentage gainer on the index.

The pharmaceutical sector fell 6.48%, the most among the exchange’s 33 industry sub-indexes, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would sign an executive order to reduce prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices.

Chugai Pharmaceutical, majority owned by Roche Holdings, sank 11%, the most since March 2011. Takeda Pharmaceutical 4502.T, which gets more than 50% of its revenue from the US, slid 5.5%.