Japan's Indexes Closed at New Record Highs, SoftBank Group Jumped 6%

Akira Ito
12 Aug, 2025
Tokyo

Japan's benchmark indexes soared to new record highs after investors returned from a three-day holiday.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average jumped 2.7%, and the Topix advanced 1.8%, and both indexes closed at new record highs amid optimism over the international trade. 

China and the U.S. confirmed the extension of the trade tariff deadline by 90 days to November 10, supporting the market sentiment across Asia. 

The U.S. tariff on Chinese goods averaged about 50% in July, but import duties were scheduled to increase as high as 145% on some products. 

For now, the extension of the tariff deadline avoided the worst-case scenario, but the U.S. is likely to impose a "punitive tariff" of 25% for China's continued import of Russian oil and natural gas. 

On the domestic economic front, investors remained divided about the Bank of Japan's next move, and traders continued to bet that the central bank will hike rates by at least 25 basis points before the year's end. 

 

Japan Indexes and Stocks 

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average soared 2.7% to 42,942.96, and the broader Topix added 1.8% to 3,077.35. 

SoftBank Group added 6.5% to ¥14,765.0 after the investment company committed to invest as much as $32.7 billion in OpenAI. 

In addition, the company agreed to acquire chip design firm Ampere Computing for $5.6 billion.

Sanrio Co. Ltd. soared 15.7% to ¥7,180.0 after the parent company of the Hello Kitty brand reported strong quarterly results. 

Net sales in the June quarter soared 49.1% to 43 billion yen, operating profit jumped 88% to 20.1 billion yen, and the profit attributable to owners of the parent company advanced 37.8% to 14.1 billion yen.

The sales growth in the quarter was driven by the global popularity of the company's characters, increased sales in domestic stores and theme parks, and solid growth in its licensing business in North America and China. 

Tokyo Electron advanced 2.2% to ¥21,760.0 and rebounded from a one-week low after the company's quarterly results last week fell short of investor expectations.