Japan stocks higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.12%

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Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Real Estate, Banking and Textile sectors led...

Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Real Estate, Banking and Textile sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.12%.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (TYO:5713), which rose 9.45% or 851.00 points to trade at 9,855.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Hino Motors, Ltd. (TYO:7205) added 7.77% or 30.00 points to end at 416.00 and Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) was up 5.17% or 1,320.00 points to 26,860.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TYO:8035), which fell 5.64% or 2,470.00 points to trade at 41,330.00 at the close. SMC Corp (TYO:6273) declined 4.68% or 2,950.00 points to end at 60,130.00 and Sapporo Holdings Ltd. (TYO:2501) was down 4.65% or 77.50 points to 1,590.50.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2023 to 1582 and 208 ended unchanged.

Shares in Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (TYO:5713) rose to all time highs; up 9.45% or 851.00 to 9,855.00. Shares in Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) rose to all time highs; up 5.17% or 1,320.00 to 26,860.00.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 0.56% to 34.33.

Crude oil for March delivery was up 1.77% or 1.12 to $64.33 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in April rose 1.59% or 1.07 to hit $68.44 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract rose 4.83% or 258.05 to trade at $5,598.25 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.25% to 153.04, while EUR/JPY rose 0.09% to 183.55.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.42% at 95.87.

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Taiwan stocks higher at close of trade; Taiwan Weighted up 0.79%

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Investing.com – Taiwan stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Biotech & Medical Care, Chemical/Bio & Medical care and Electronic Products Distribution sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Taiwan, the Taiwan Weighted added 0.79% to hit a new all time high.

The best performers of the session on the Taiwan Weighted were Asia Plastic Recycling Holding Ltd (TW:1337), which rose 10.00% or 0.56 points to trade at 6.16 at the close. Meanwhile, Abnova Taiwan Corp (TW:4133) added 10.00% or 2.40 points to end at 26.40 and Golden Bridge Electech Inc (TW:6133) was up 10.00% or 2.55 points to 28.05 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Career Technology MFG Co Ltd (TW:6153), which fell 8.89% or 1.65 points to trade at 16.90 at the close. Acbel Polytech Inc (TW:6282) declined 8.50% or 5.00 points to end at 53.80 and Lemtech Holdings Co Ltd (TW:4912) was down 7.01% or 7.40 points to 98.10.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Taiwan Stock Exchange by 0 to 0.

Shares in Golden Bridge Electech Inc (TW:6133) rose to 3-years highs; gaining 10.00% or 2.55 to 28.05.

Crude oil for March delivery was up 1.42% or 0.90 to $64.11 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in April rose 1.20% or 0.81 to hit $68.18 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract rose 5.13% or 273.91 to trade at $5,614.11 a troy ounce.

USD/TWD was up 0.06% to 31.32, while TWD/CNY unchanged 0.05% to 0.22.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.34% at 95.95.

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Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.07%

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Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the IT, Industrials and Consumer Discretionary sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.07%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were ASX Ltd (ASX:ASX), which rose 7.31% or 3.91 points to trade at 57.39 at the close. Meanwhile, Reece Ltd (ASX:REH) added 6.80% or 0.94 points to end at 14.77 and Sandfire Resources NL (ASX:SFR) was up 5.09% or 1.03 points to 21.28 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Iluka Resources Ltd (ASX:ILU), which fell 13.85% or 0.89 points to trade at 5.57 at the close. DroneShield Ltd (ASX:DRO) declined 9.37% or 0.37 points to end at 3.58 and Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX:VEA) was down 8.58% or 0.18 points to 1.87.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 813 to 408 and 371 ended unchanged.

Shares in Sandfire Resources NL (ASX:SFR) rose to all time highs; up 5.09% or 1.03 to 21.28.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 1.27% to 10.38.

Gold Futures for April delivery was up 4.30% or 229.54 to $5,569.74 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 1.49% or 0.94 to hit $64.15 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 1.26% or 0.85 to trade at $68.22 a barrel.

AUD/USD was up 0.78% to 0.71, while AUD/JPY rose 0.46% to 108.52.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.36% at 95.93.

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Toyota posts record high sales in 2025, maintains top-seller lead

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Investing.com-- Toyota Motor Corp (TYO:7203) said on Thursday it achieved record-high global vehicle sales in 2025, reinforcing its position as the world’s top-selling automaker amid robust demand across key markets.

Toyota’s combined sales of Toyota and Lexus vehicles, along with units from subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino Motors, reached about 11.3 million vehicles for the full year, marking a 4.6% year-on-year increase.

Robust demand in North America and Japan underpinned the performance, with Toyota and Lexus models accounting for about 10.5 million units of the total.

The results extended the company’s leadership in global auto sales for the sixth consecutive year.

Toyota’s hybrid vehicles continued to be a key growth driver, representing around 42% of its global sales mix, while battery-electric vehicles remained a small fraction at roughly 1.9%.

Toyota outpaced its closest global rival, Volkswagen AG (ETR:VOWG), which reported weaker annual deliveries for 2025.

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Dj Ibm Showcases Vision For Quantum With New Research. How Nvidia And Amd Fit In The Picture. - Barrons.Com

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IBM Showcases Vision for Quantum With New Research. How Nvidia and AMD Fit in the Picture. — Barrons.com

Dow Jones Newswires

Advanced Micro Devices

By Mackenzie Tatananni

It may seem natural to pit the capabilities of quantum computers — which are often touted as the next big technology — against today's supercomputers. But scientists have a different, more collaborative vision for the future.

Rather than outright replacing classical machines, quantum systems will likely be built on top of existing architecture to enable more powerful computations.

This perspective was captured in new research from International Business Machines, which showed how classical graphics processing units, or GPUs, from leading chip makers could work alongside quantum processors to execute problems faster.

"It's important for the world to see that quantum computers aren't just these things that are replace your computers," Jerry Chow, IBM's chief technology officer of quantum-centric supercomputing, said in an interview with Barron's."They're really part of the entire computing infrastructure."

Two papers co-authored by IBM researchers detailing the results were posted to Cornell University's arXiv, a research-sharing platform for papers that have yet to be peer-reviewed.

The first paper showed how GPUs from Advanced Micro Devices, contained within the Frontier supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, could be combined with IBM's Heron processor to model complex chemical systems and provide a 100-time speedup over central processing units, or CPUs.

"It's a notoriously difficult problem for classical computers," Chow explained. "But we know now, there's a part of these chemistry problems which are best handled on the quantum computer."

Follow-up work with Riken, a Japanese research institute, was showcased in the second paper. The study showed how the same chemical systems could be modeled on IBM quantum computers for an additional 20% speed-up in performance when using a new algorithmic approach on Nvidia chips.

"Overall, they're all supporting the same narrative, that the future of computing is quantum-centric," Chow said. As he sees it, it's the next logical step in a continuous evolution of technology.

Classical GPUs have already proven their prowess at one type of math. The chips perform calculations by breaking large problems into thousands of simpler tasks that are processed simultaneously, through a method called parallel processing.

Meanwhile, quantum processors harness the properties of quantum mechanics, which makes them best suited for complex modeling tasks. This explains why most quantum research consists of some kind of modeling problem — and why quantum is expected to have an outsized impact in the areas of drug discovery and materials science.

Classical processors are "the technology behind everything that we see today with language models and training and inference and so forth," according to Chow.

It's impossible to rule out a distant future "where everything is all based off the same kind of technology," he added. "But at least from what we've seen with how supercomputing has evolved in the last 10 to 15 years, it's all about composable pieces."

Much of IBM's past research has incorporated hybrid quantum-classical computing. In September, computers running on IBM's Heron processor worked alongside bit-based machines to perform a bond trading problem.

Jay Gambetta, who oversees IBM's research effort, shared a similar view in an earlier interview with Barron's. "We're imagining a heterogeneous accelerating framework that connects quantum and classical compute," Gambetta explained during a tour of IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center in October.

Crucially, the latest results demonstrate that real-world applications of quantum computers are just a step away.

"We have a number of partners who already have clusters of supercomputers that they know how to access," Chow said. "To them, it's like, 'Now I have the keys to a brand-new car, let me see what I can do with it and how I can work it in with what I've been doing.'"

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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Asia stocks dip as tech rally cools after mixed US earnings, Fed pause

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Investing.com--Most Asian stock markets took a breather on Thursday as technology shares eased after recent gains, with investors digesting mixed mega-cap tech earnings on Wall Street and the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep rates unchanged.

Wall Street ended largely muted overnight, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posting marginal moves after earnings from some of the world’s largest technology firms.

U.S. stock futures edged lower during Asian hours, signalling a softer open later in the day.

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Mixed US tech earnings weigh on regional shares

Meta Platforms’ shares jumped in post-market trading after the company delivered an upbeat revenue outlook, reinforcing enthusiasm around AI-driven advertising tools. Tesla also beat expectations, offering some support to growth stocks.

In contrast, Microsoft’s shares slipped after its results highlighted rising costs linked to heavy AI investment, tempering broader sentiment toward the sector.

Asian technology stocks, which had surged in recent weeks on expectations of strong AI-related demand, fell from recent peaks.

South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.3% after jumping to fresh record highs earlier in the session.

Heavyweight chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix posted strong earnings and outlooks on Thursday, sending their shares higher in early trade, but they retreated as investors locked in gains amid broader market weakness.

Asian stocks tick lower; traders assess Fed decision

The Federal Reserve’s policy decision remained a key focus for investors. The U.S. central bank on Wednesday held its benchmark interest rate steady, pausing after a series of cuts last year.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said policymakers needed greater confidence that inflation was moving sustainably toward the 2% target before easing policy further, while noting that economic growth remained resilient.

Market pricing from CME’s FedWatch tool showed traders expect the Fed to keep rates on hold in the near term, but deliver two more cuts later this year.

Back in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index edged 0.2% lower, while the broader TOPIX eased 0.3%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ticked down 0.2% after surging over 2.5% in the previous session.

In mainland China, the blue-chip Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300, and the Shanghai Composite index were both muted.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.6%, while Singapore's Straits Times Index edged down 0.1%.

Futures for India's Nifty 50 also edged 0.1% lower.

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