Japanese stocks rallied sharply on Friday after Washington capped tariffs on Japanese goods at 15%, easing fears of steeper duties. The Nikkei 225 jumped 2.2%, while the TOPIX hit a record high, driven by strong earnings from Sony and SoftBank. Despite underwhelming results, Toyota shares also managed to rebound.
Elsewhere in Asia, most markets were under pressure as the U.S.’s new 10%–50% tariffs came into effect. Australia’s ASX 200 dipped 0.1%, South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.3%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.6% on weakness in technology stocks. Chinese equities were little changed, while India’s Nifty 50 futures pointed to a cautious open as tariffs on Indian goods are set to double from 25% to 50% in three weeks.