The Nikkei 225 stock average ended the week near the historic highs hit Thursday, with investors still optimistic that a ceasefire in the Middle East might hold and peace could break out.

It closed at 62,713.65, down 0.2% on Friday. The benchmark rallied 5.6% a day earlier and reached 63,091.14, the new record, in the afternoon.

The mood cooled on Friday in part because of weak trading overnight in the United States. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.63%, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX), which measures the performance of the 30 largest U.S. semiconductor-related stocks, declined 2.72%.

Tech shares in the United States have been volatile on concerns about valuations of artificial intelligence-related companies and the chip companies supplying them with the processing power.??

Following the sell-off in U.S. semiconductor shares, the Nikkei 225 ¡ª which has tracked the SOX recently ¡ª briefly fell more than 1% in Friday morning trade. Japanese stocks were resilient. They climbed back in the afternoon partly due to positive company results.?

Corporate Japan is now in its earnings season, and investors are paying close attention to performance outlooks and guidance disclosed in the course of reporting, in particular how companies are gauging the effects of war in the Middle East.

Toyota announced on Friday that its net profit for the fiscal year ending March 2027 is expected to decline 22% year over year to ?3 trillion, in part due to production cuts related to the Middle East conflict.

Shares of Japan¡¯s largest automaker briefly plunged to a year-to-date low of ?2,874 on Friday before closing at ?2,913, down 2.2%.

Japanese listed companies tend to be conservative in their earnings projections.??

From the end of April through the Golden Week holidays, which came to an end on Wednesday, investors were cautious about the fluctuations of the yen against the dollar.?

On April 30, intervention in the currency market by Japanese authorities was reported by some media. Japan might also have intervened earlier this month. Financial officials have not confirmed the intervention.?

News that Japan might be propping up its currency came as the yen broke the ?160-to-the-dollar mark on April 30, just days after the Bank of Japan said it would keep rates steady.

Media have reported that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will visit Japan next week and meet with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama and BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda.

According to the reports, they will talk about foreign exchange, rare earths and energy markets.

Katayama has said Japan has been closely communicating with the U.S. financial authorities.?