68,956.72. The Nikkei 225 closed at that level Thursday after jumping 3.3%, the Associated Press reported.
Most of Asia rose with it, but the gains were thin. The Kospi in South Korea edged up 2.0% to 6,971.35. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost nearly 2.0% to 8,614.40. Hong Kong and Shanghai were shut for a national holiday.
Tech issues carried the day in Tokyo. Advantest led the advance. Tokyo Electron and SoftBank Group also gained. Traders tied that strength to solid demand for computer chips and AI-related growth.
Wall Street slips
Wall Street mostly fell Wednesday even as signs pointed to a sturdy U.S. economy. The S&P 500 fell 19.30 points to 7,651.54. The decline left the index with its third losing month in the last four. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 443.87 points, or 0.9%, to 50,906.05. The Nasdaq composite added 63.52 to 26,861.06.
Inflation data helped limit the damage. The report put August living costs 3.4% higher than a year earlier. Economists had forecast 3.7%. That was still above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
Oil and Iran
Oil was firmer. U.S. benchmark crude gained 0.12% to settle at $90.53 a barrel. Brent, the international standard, added 0.32% to reach $98.34 a barrel.
Crude has whipsawed for months on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow full crude flows to resume. Iranian officials said Wednesday that Washington had answered Tehran’s latest proposal to end the seven-month war. They declined to say what the answer said or whether it was a rejection.
Days earlier, President Donald Trump had publicly turned down an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week if Washington met certain conditions.
Yields and currencies
The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 5.29% from 5.26% late Tuesday. That returned it to levels last seen in 2002. The 30-year yield rose to 5.64% from 5.59%.
The dollar traded at 158.30 yen, up from 157.33 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1320 from $1.1334.
