Market Updates
AI-Powered Market Rally Lifts Japan's Indexes to New Record Highs
Akira Ito
03 Oct, 2025
Tokyo
Japan's stock market indexes advanced and scaled new record highs, driven by an AI-powered tech rally on Friday.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average jumped 1.4%, and the broader Topix advanced 1.2% amid a mixed outlook for the rate path.
Stocks powered ahead, tracking overnight gains in New York, and AI-driven semiconductor equipment makers led the gainers.
Investors are excited for results of the LDP's leadership race on Saturday, as the ruling party loses support among voters.
The next party leader, Shinjiro Koizumi, is likely to be Japan's prime minister and faces a rapidly changing political landscape as voters flock to new right-wing parties.
Japan's Jobless Rate Advanced In August
Japan's jobless rate advanced to 2.6% in August from 2.3% in the previous month, according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
The number of unemployed increased by 150,000 to 1.79 million, a 13-month high, according to the government data.
The number of people in the labor force increased by 210,000 to a four-month high of 68.10 million.
The labor force participation rate increased to 64% from 63.6%, and the jobs-to-applicants ratio eased to 1.20, the lowest level since January 2022.
Japan Indexes and Stocks
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average soared 1.4% to 45,584.54, and the broader Topix advanced 1.2% to 3,125.08.
For the week, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 1.3%, and the Topix trimmed losses to 0.5%.
Tokyo Electron advanced 2.2% to ¥28,460.0, Advantest Corp. gained 3.1% to ¥15,515.0, and Disco Corp. fell 0.5% to ¥51,180.0.
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