Japan Market Daily | Kabutaro & Friends

On May 22, 2026, the Nikkei 225 surged for a second straight session, closing up 1,654 yen at 63,339 yen to marginally refresh its all-time high. Broad-based buying was triggered by growing optimism over progress in U.S.-Iran ceasefire negotiations, which led to lower crude oil prices and eased global inflationary concerns. Following Wall Street's performance where the Dow Jones reached a fresh record high for the first time in nearly three months, the Tokyo market saw a strong rally led by AI and semiconductor-related shares, such as SoftBank Group. In the FX market, the USD/JPY cross temporarily touched the 159 range, but upside momentum slowed around 159 yen following coordinated currency warnings from U.S. and Japanese finance officials and reports that the U.S. called off strikes against Iran.