By Rocky Swift
TOKYO, Feb 12 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei share average climbed past the 58,000 mark for the first time on Thursday, extending its scorching rally since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi won a resounding electoral victory on a campaign of increased economic stimulus.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index was up 0.4% at 57,874.61 after rising as high as 58,015.08 earlier in the day, as trading resumed after a holiday. So far in 2026, the Nikkei has surged 15%. The broader Topix climbed 0.8% to 3,884.16 on Thursday.
The earnings season is underway in the world’s fourth-largest economy, and domestic markets have been buoyed by bets that a decisive showing by Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party in Sunday’s national election will enable her to push through spending and tax-relief measures.
Since she began her rise to become the nation’s first female premier in October, the “Takaichi trade” has pushed local shares to successive record highs while spurring declines in government bonds and the yen.
“Following recent strong earnings results and the LDP’s landslide victory under the Takaichi administration, the market has been on a significant upward trend,” said Wataru Akiyama, a strategist at Nomura Securities.
“The sense of overheating seems to be intensifying, so profit-taking movements could emerge from here on.”
Honda Motor shares slumped 3% after the automaker posted a 61% drop in third-quarter profit after market hours on Tuesday.
Results from SoftBank Group after the bell on Thursday will be closely watched for details on how it will fund its massive investments in AI.
There were 148 advancers on the Nikkei against 74 decliners. The largest gainers in the index were cosmetics maker Shiseido, up 14%, followed by Mitsui Kinzoku, a key supplier in the AI sector, which climbed 11%.
The largest losers were Sharp, which sank 11%, followed by consulting services provider Baycurrent, down 8.6%.
(Reporting by Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Subhranshu Sahu)
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