Today, the Nikkei 225 opened higher and fluctuated upwards, ultimately closing up 0.85% at 64,621.24 points.
Today, the Asia-Pacific markets overall exhibited a recovery trend. Aside from Japanese stocks, South Korea's KOSPI rebounded sharply by more than 3.2%, indicating a significant recovery in market risk appetite.
Today, the Nikkei 225 opened high at 64,885.95 points, reaching an intraday high of 65,404.63 points, after which bulls and bears engaged in a tug-of-war around the 65,000-point mark. Although gains narrowed in late trading, the index remained in positive territory throughout the day, successfully recovering some of the ground lost in recent adjustments. The technology and semiconductor sectors became the main focus of bullish momentum today, following strong gains in overnight U.S. stocks and Asia-Pacific peers such as South Korea's Samsung and SK Hynix. The rise in related heavyweight stocks provided a strong upward pull on the index. Currently, Japanese stocks are maintaining a high-level consolidation pattern, with recent market volatility mainly influenced by the global macroeconomic environment and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. As benchmark crude oil prices fell back to near three-month lows, concerns about inflation and supply chains have eased somewhat, creating room for a stock market rebound. In the short term, investors need to continue closely monitoring the latest earnings disclosures from heavyweight companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, as well as fluctuations in the yen exchange rate in the foreign exchange market. These will be key factors determining whether the Nikkei can hold steady and break through the 65,000-point integer threshold.
Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino said today that core inflation is already very close to the 2% target and is expected to remain consistent with this target going forward. Speaking during a parliamentary question session, Himino stated that delaying policy adjustments could harm the economy. Appropriate monetary policy adjustments will contribute to Japan's economic growth. The Bank of Japan's next policy decision will be announced on October 30, with one of the market's key focuses being whether the central bank will determine that it has achieved its inflation target. Former Bank of Japan Executive Director Eiji Maeda said that to guard against the risk of inflation deviating from target, the Bank of Japan may continue to maintain a pace of raising interest rates approximately once every three months. "I expect the next rate hike will be in December, followed by March or April next year," Maeda said in an interview on Tuesday. "The pace of rate hikes has already accelerated to about once every three months, and I think this is appropriate." He was responsible for the Bank of Japan's policy response during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. This judgment is broadly in line with market pricing. Overnight index swap markets show about an 80% probability that the Bank of Japan will raise rates no later than December. The market widely expects the Bank of Japan to keep rates unchanged at its next policy meeting on October 30. Maeda said he does not completely rule out the possibility of the Bank of Japan raising rates at consecutive monetary policy meetings in the future, such as in the event of a sharp yen depreciation. However, he believes this possibility appears unlikely at present. He said that if the Bank of Japan raises rates consecutively, the market may increasingly expect further action at the next meeting, which would bring significant risks, giving the Bank of Japan reason to avoid consecutive meeting rate hikes.
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