Japan Market Daily | Kabutaro & Friends

On June 16, 2026, the Nikkei 225 advanced for a fourth consecutive session, closing up 87.00 yen at a fresh record high of 69,404.50 yen. Following the Bank of Japan's decision at its monetary policy meeting to raise its policy rate to around 1 percent and suspend the reduction of its government bond purchases, futures-led buying briefly propelled the benchmark index above the historic 70,000 threshold for the first time during early afternoon trading. Although profit-taking subsequently erased most of the gains, leading chip shares such as Kioxia supported the market, driven by overnight gains in U.S. semiconductor stocks and reports of a signed ceasefire memorandum between the U.S. and Iran. In the FX market, the USD/JPY cross remained stable in the lower 160 range with the TTM rate at 160.28 yen, underpinned by persistent interest rate differentials. On the macroeconomic front, Japan's revised Q1 real GDP was downgraded to an annualized 1.8 percent expansion due to sluggish corporate capital spending.