The Nikkei average rose more than 900 yen at one point on the 28th as buying in AI and semiconductor stocks prevailed. Before earnings announcements gather pace, trading focused on assessing individual stock performance.
On the 28th, the Nikkei Stock Average opened at 63,738.98 yen, up 470.61 yen from the previous business day, but buying led the way and the morning-session gain exceeded 900 yen at one point. The morning-session close was 64,067.10 yen, up 798.73 yen. Large-capitalisation semiconductor stocks contributed to the index's advance, with Advantest, Tokyo Electron and SoftBank Group lifting the Nikkei average by approximately 450 yen.
Meanwhile, financial and value stocks including Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Sony Group opened weakly. The TOPIX was down 0.84 points at 3996.53 as of the morning close, indicating a degree of unevenness in the overall market strength. Market participants said they wanted to assess the results ahead of the period when earnings announcements gather pace.