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Japanese Stocks Climb as Middle East Fears Ease

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Japanese shares rose at Thursday's market open as optimism surrounding U.S.-Iran negotiations reduced fears over Middle East instability.

The Nikkei 225 gained 570.4 points or 1% to open at 60,374.84.

Iran is currently reviewing a new draft from the U.S., with President Masoud Pezeshkian saying on X that his country has "explored every avenue to avert war," adding that "all paths remain open from our side."

The world's most valuable stock, Nvidia, unveiled a forecast of $91 billion in sales for the quarter ending in July, better than analysts had anticipated.

At home, Japan maintains a trade surplus as energy imports plummet in April.

According to the Finance Ministry's Thursday report, Japan posted an unadjusted trade surplus of 301.9 billion yen for April as the value of exports climbed 14.8% year-on-year while import value increased by 9.7%.

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