The Nikkei Stock Average extended its rally at the open on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on July 31. The benchmark index started trading at 61,957.10, up 89.67 points from the previous business day, before rapidly widening its gains to surge more than 400 points at one stage. The advance was fueled by improved investor sentiment, as the market carried over momentum from a sharp rally in US technology stocks, led by semiconductor-related names, during the prior session.<\/p>\n
Buying appetite was strong even before the opening bell, with market participants widely expecting the US tech rally to spill directly into the Tokyo market. Tokyo Electron (8035.T), which reported its April-June 2026 quarter earnings on July 30, started the session with a glut of unfilled buy orders, underscoring its popularity. The company’s results exceeded market expectations, drawing buy orders from a broad range of investors, from retail traders to institutional players.<\/p>\n
According to the Nikkei, all three major US stock indexes advanced on July 30, with tech stocks posting particularly standout gains. Riding this wave, buying in the Tokyo market was concentrated in artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor-related names. The Nikkei had closed at 61,867 in the previous session. Market participants are reportedly eyeing the 64,000 level as a near-term upside target.<\/p>\n
Japan’s quarterly corporate earnings season is now in full swing, intensifying stock-picking activity based on individual company results. Beyond Tokyo Electron’s strong earnings, attention is also focused on the performance trends of other semiconductor-related companies. A bullish view prevails among market participants that semiconductor equipment manufacturers will continue to deliver solid results, underpinned by expanding AI demand.<\/p>\n
By sector, export-related stocks such as electric machinery and precision instruments broadly firmed in the Tokyo market on the day. Meanwhile, some selling pressure was observed in domestically oriented sectors like retail and air transport, weighed down by rising crude oil futures prices. Behind this caution is concern that higher oil prices, driven by escalating tensions in the Middle East, will squeeze earnings in certain industries through increased costs.<\/p>\n
Regarding the earthquake that struck the Kyushu region, home to a concentration of semiconductor fabrication plants, some voices have expressed concern about the impact on supply chains. However, the prevailing view is that the overall market impact will be limited. One market participant told ANN News that “supply chain issues are being recognized as the extent of the damage becomes clearer,” while another analyst expressed the view that “the impact will likely be temporary.”<\/p>\n
In the previous session on July 30, the Tokyo market saw choppy trading, with the Nikkei briefly surging more than 1,000 points at one stage. Geopolitical risks, including uncertainty surrounding the Middle East situation and the Kyushu earthquake, continue to engage in a tug-of-war with expectations for strong corporate earnings. However, judging by the market action on July 31, investor attention is squarely focused on the immediate positive catalysts.<\/p>\n
Market participants analyze that “if the US-led tech rally is confirmed alongside generally solid earnings from domestic companies, the Nikkei could once again test the 64,000 level.” On the other hand, some also point to the potential for heightened market volatility as the impact of foreign exchange movements, the outlook for crude oil prices, and the real-economy effects of the Kyushu earthquake gradually become clearer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Nikkei Stock Average extended its rally at the open on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on July 31.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5008,8,7787,36024,52,6851,5923,43443],"class_list":["post-66611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tokyo","tag-artificial-intelligence-ai","tag-japan","tag-nikkei-stock-average","tag-semiconductor-related-stocks","tag-tokyo","tag-tokyo-electron","tag-tokyo-stock-exchange","tag-us-tech-stocks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}