The Bank of Japan decided to raise rates by 0.25% at its monetary policy meeting, and the Nikkei 225 rose to the ¥65,436 range in the afternoon. Selling and wait-and-see sentiment then spread, and the index ultimately closed at ¥65,018.95. Kioxia Holdings was among the stocks attracting attention after posting a sharp gain.
On 18 September 2026, the Nikkei 225 opened higher following the Bank of Japan’s decision to raise rates. Around midday, the Bank of Japan announced that it would raise the policy rate by 0.25 percentage points to around 1.25%. Although some Policy Board members dissented, the market interpreted the decision as indicating an accommodative stance, and the index at one point rose sharply from the previous day.
The Nikkei 225 rose at 12:49 p.m. to a level ¥1,300.32 above the previous day’s close, but subsequent renewed pullbacks and profit-taking capped further gains. The index ultimately ended trading at ¥65,018.95, up ¥882.70 from the previous day. The leading contributors included Advantest, Tokyo Electron, Kioxia Holdings, Ibiden and SoftBank Group.
Trading volume on the TSE Prime Market was approximately 2.862 billion shares, while trading value was approximately ¥10.396999 trillion, both up from the previous day. By sector, nonferrous metals and electric appliances rose, while electricity and gas and marine transportation declined. The leading individual advancers were Advance Create, Kanto Denka Kogyo and Kioxia Holdings, while the biggest decliners included ANYCOLOR, Tohoku Electric Power and Kurimoto.
Against this backdrop, gains in stocks with high contribution to the Nikkei 225 pushed the market higher, while selling to close positions was also observed ahead of the Bank of Japan’s press conference and the long weekend. Kioxia Holdings rose sharply, gaining 9.40%, and became a key factor influencing the overall market dynamic.