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Yomiuri Shimbun file photo The Tokyo Stock Exchange
Reuters
13:22 JST, April 17, 2025 (updated at 16:30 JST)
TOKYO, April 17 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei share average bounced back on Thursday from the previous session’s declines, helped by a weaker yen after the first round of closely watched trade negotiations between Tokyo and Washington were lauded by President Donald Trump.
The equity benchmark also staged a late, tech-led push higher in the final hour after Taiwanese chip major TSMC posted first-quarter profit that topped analyst estimates.
The Nikkei ended the day up 1.35% at 34,377.60, just off the session’s high, as it took back the ground it lost in Wednesday’s 1% slide.
The broader Topix added 1.29%.
Japan’s chief negotiator, economy minister Ryosei Akazawa, met U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson on Wednesday, with President Donald Trump also making a surprise appearance.
Speaking to reporters after the discussions, which Trump had lauded on social media as making “big progress,” Akazawa said Washington wants a deal with Tokyo as a “top priority.”
He also revealed that currencies had not figured in the first round of negotiations, spurring a rebound in the dollar-yen exchange rate after it had earlier slipped to the lowest since September.
A weaker yen generally provides a tailwind for Japanese equities because it increases the value of exporters’ overseas revenues.
Last month, Trump had accused Tokyo of pursuing a policy to devalue the yen, giving Japan an unfair trade advantage.
Mazda Motor and Subaru, which are heavily reliant on the U.S. market, jumped 2.72% and 1.84%, respectively. Toyota, by contrast, shed earlier modest gains to end flat.
Elsewhere, stocks that suffered selling on Wednesday were bought back, including chip-sector shares, which got an additional lift from TSMC’s strong financial results.
Chip-testing equipment maker and Nvidia supplier Advantest climbed 3.5%, following a 6.6% tumble on Wednesday.
The best performer among the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 industry groups was oil and coal producers, which advanced 3.6% on firmer crude prices.
However, Jefferies analysts warn that Japanese stocks will struggle to make much more headway amid Trump’s global trade battles, with a 12-month target of 35,500 for the Nikkei.
“We expect mixed messaging to induce steep volatility in the near term and heightened uncertainty over the medium/long term,” the analysts said in a report.
“The supply chain disruptions and capex delays could hurt global growth in the near term and have a disproportionate impact on Japan’s earnings, given the high operating leverage.”
