The 50-stock benchmark\u00a0Nifty 50<\/a>\u00a0fell 0.31%, while the BSE Sensex index lost 0.18% as of 9:30 a.m. Indian Standard time (12 a.m. ET).<\/p>\n Stock Chart IconStock chart icon Nifty 50 Index<\/p>\n Japan’s Nikkei 225 rises over 2%<\/p>\n Japanese stocks rose Friday, leading with the blue-chip\u00a0Nikkei\u00a0225<\/a> benchmark and broader Topix index rising past the 1% mark.<\/p>\n The increase was led by technology firms, consumer cyclicals, and real estate sectors.<\/p>\n The 225-stock index advanced 2.22% to hit 41,968.68 at 11:45 a.m. local time (10:45 p.m. Thursday ET), while the broader Topix index added 1.65% to 3,037.11, after hitting a record high and crossing the 3,000 threshold<\/a> for the first time earlier in the session.<\/p>\n Stock Chart IconStock chart icon Nikkei 225<\/p>\n SoftBank Group shares surge 13% to a record high after quarterly profit beat estimates<\/p>\n Shares of\u00a0SoftBank Group<\/a>\u00a0surged 13% Friday to hit a fresh record, following the company’s higher-than-expected fiscal first-quarter profit.<\/p>\n This marks the Japanese investment firm’s sharpest intra-day spike since 2020, and its best day in nearly five years if the gains hold.<\/p>\n Friday’s session also marks SoftBank’s fourth straight session of gains and comes after it closed at a record high in its previous session, before its earnings release.<\/p>\n Stock Chart IconStock chart icon SoftBank Group<\/p>\n Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Amala Balakrishner<\/p>\n Chinese and Hong Kong stocks fall in early trade<\/p>\n Chinese and Hong Kong stocks started the day lower Friday, amid mixed trade across the key Asia-Pacific markets.<\/p>\n As of 10 a.m. local time (10 p.m. ET Thursday), the Hang Seng Index<\/a>\u00a0fell 0.76%, while mainland’s\u00a0<\/strong>CSI 300<\/a>\u00a0dropped 0.25%.<\/p>\n \u2014 Amala Balakrishner<\/p>\n Japan’s Topix hits all-time high<\/p>\n Japan’s Topix index rose for the fourth consecutive session Friday and hit a record high of 3,031.78.<\/p>\n The broad-based index had gained 1.42% as of 10 a.m. local time (9 p.m. ET Thursday),<\/p>\n Gains were led by Nippon Chemical Industrial<\/a>, which surged 23.06%, investment management firm Miyakoshi Holdings<\/a>, which rose 22.04%, rent debt provider J-Lease Co<\/a> which advanced 18.66% and probe card manufacturer Japan Electronic Materials Corp<\/a> which gained 13.42%.<\/p>\n \u2014 Amala Balakrishner<\/p>\n Asia-Pacific markets start the day mixed<\/p>\n Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed Friday.<\/p>\n As of 8:12 a.m. Singapore time (8:12 p.m. ET Thursday), Japan’s Nikkei 225<\/a> benchmark rose 1.18% while the broader Topix index added 0.87%.<\/p>\n In South Korea, the\u00a0Kospi<\/a>\u00a0index fell 0.13% while the small-cap Kosdaq increased by 0.65%.<\/p>\n Over in Australia, the\u00a0S&P\/ASX 200<\/a> benchmark was down 0.29%.<\/p>\n \u2014 Amala Balakrishner<\/p>\n U.S. futures move up in early Asia hoursHere are the opening calls for the day <\/p>\n Good morning from Singapore, and happy Friday.<\/p>\n Investors are awaiting a slew of data from Japan, including its current account balance for June.<\/p>\n The country’s benchmark\u00a0Nikkei 225<\/a>\u00a0was set to open higher, <\/strong>with the futures contract in Chicago at 41,285 while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 41,170, against the index’s Thursday close of 41,059.15.<\/p>\n Futures for Hong Kong’s\u00a0Hang Seng index<\/a>\u00a0stood at 24,876, pointing to a weaker open compared with the HSI’s last close of 25,081.63.<\/p>\n Australia’s\u00a0S&P\/ASX 200<\/a>\u00a0was set to start the day lower with futures tied to the benchmark at 8,757, compared with the index’s last close of 8,831.40.<\/p>\n \u2014 Amala Balakrishner<\/p>\n Sentiment on stocks collapses the most since the February market top<\/p>\n Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during afternoon trading on August 1, 2025 in New York City. <\/p>\n Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images<\/p>\n The latest gauge of investor sentiment is rife with uneasiness. Counterintuitively, some market strategists think that could be a bullish sign that forces traders to get back into the market and drive stocks higher.<\/p>\n Bearish\u00a0individual investor sentiment toward stocks over the next six months rose more than 10 percentage points, the most since February, in the\u00a0latest weekly survey<\/a>\u00a0by the American Association of Individual Investors.<\/p>\n Investor sentiment is viewed by many as a contrarian indicator. The idea is that when investors are bearish, they are more likely to have already sold stocks and have more cash on hand to put to work. And when more are bullish, the reverse is true.<\/p>\n![\"hide](\"https:\/\/static-redesign.cnbcfm.com\/dist\/a54b41835a8b60db28c2.svg\")
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