Nikkei ends at two-week high on US tariff relief, chip rally

Japan's Nikkei ended trade on Thursday at the highest point in more than two weeks after a U.S. court blocked President Donald Trump's tariffs from going into effect, while a weaker yen and a rally in chip-related stocks also supported the benchmark index.

The Nikkei climbed 1.88% to 38,432.98, its highest close since May 13.

The broader Topix rose 1.53% to 2,812.02.


The Manhattan-based Court of International Trade ruled that Trump overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board duties on imports from nations that sell more to the United States than they buy.

"The news was positive as Trump's tariff plans are a headwind for the corporate and economic outlook," said Kentaro Hayashi, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.

"And the yen weakened on the news, which drove a rally in the auto sector," he said.

The U.S. dollar surged following the court decision, pushing the yen to fall as low as 146.26 against the greenback. A weaker yen boosts the value of overseas revenues.

Chip-related shares jumped after Nvidia beat quarterly sales expectations, with Advantest and Tokyo Electron rising 5.35% and 4.25%, respectively.

Cable maker Fujikura, a gauge for AI investments, jumped 5.54%. It lifted the nonferrous metals sector by 5.8%, making it the top performer among the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 33 industry sub-indexes.

Shares of Toyota Motor rose nearly 4%, helping lift the auto and auto parts sector by 3.39%.

Hino Motors and Nissan Motor jumped nearly 6% each.

On the other hand, toy maker Bandai Namco Holdings fell 2.96% to drag the Nikkei the most.