Snapshot: The Nikkei 225 surged 1.65% to a record close of 71,053, powered by massive relief as Japan’s energy-import anxieties vanished following an interim deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. This major domestic catalyst triggered aggressive buying across Japanese financials, with Sumitomo Mitsui up 4.3%, enabling local equities to easily shrug off overnight Wall Street weakness and hawkish Fed policy signals.
- Key Level: The clean breakout above 70,000 is structurally constructive, with domestic financial giants SMFG (+4.3%) and MUFG (+3.1%) driving the capital flow.
- US Session Risk: Spillover from the 12.37% spike in the VIX to 18.44, which may prompt near-term profit-taking in high-beta tech exporters if US cash equities open defensive ahead of the 08:30 ET macro print.
Bias into NY: We hold a structural long bias targeting 71,500, looking to buy any initial intraday pullback to 70,800 as the lifting of the Middle East energy overhang fundamentally improves Japanese corporate margins, even if US 10-year yields holding at 4.43% cap broader tech momentum.