Asian Stocks Rise on Tech Rally: Nikkei Climbs to 64,622 Points

The Japanese Nikkei 225 closed on September 4, 2026 with a gain of 1.3% at 65,021 points, after technology stocks posted significant gains on Wall Street. During trading, the Japanese leading index temporarily climbed 0.6% to 64,622 points before gaining further through the closing bell.

Tech Stocks Drive U.S. Trading Despite Negative Overall Balance

On Wall Street on September 4, 2026, tech stocks delivered strong performance while broad indices closed in negative territory. The S&P 500 fell 0.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 245 points or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.2%.

Winners in the tech sector included several semiconductor and hardware manufacturers. Nvidia rose 1.4%, Advanced Micro Devices gained 4.2%, while SanDisk surged 10.4%. Micron Technology gained 4.6%.

Sportswear maker Lululemon Athletica, by contrast, experienced a sharp drop of 17.4% after the company reported quarterly revenues below analyst expectations and lowered guidance for the current fiscal year.

Strong U.S. Jobs Report Significantly Exceeds Expectations

The U.S. Department of Labor announced on September 4, 2026 that the American economy added 162,000 new jobs in August. According to a FactSet survey, economists had expected only 65,000 new jobs. Additionally, the department revised figures for June and July upward, adding 55,000 positions. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1%.

Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Asset Management Group, stated: "Today's jobs report makes a case for a Fed rate hike," but added that a hike was "not a done deal." Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, assessed the situation more decisively: "Given the strength of the employment report, a rate hike on September 16 appears increasingly likely."

Rate Hike Looms: Inflation Above 3 Percent

The U.S. inflation rate remains well above 3%, driven by rising oil prices related to U.S.-Iran tensions. The Federal Reserve targets inflation of 2%.

In the bond market, yields mostly moved higher following the jobs report. The yield on the two-year U.S. Treasury note rose from 4.34% to 4.36% on September 4, 2026. This maturity is particularly sensitive to expectations about Federal Reserve interest rate policy. At the beginning of 2026, the two-year yield had been at 3.50%.

The yield on the ten-year U.S. Treasury note declined slightly from 4.77% to 4.76%. This bond influences mortgage rates and had been at 4.20% at the beginning of 2026.

Mixed Picture Across Asian Markets

While the Nikkei 225 posted significant gains, developments at other Asian trading venues on September 4, 2026 were mixed. South Korea's Kospi closed with a gain of 1.6% at 6,687 points, though some sources recorded a 1.7% increase to 6,691 points.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 performed weaker, declining 0.2% to 9,006 points. In early trading, the index had been nearly flat at 9,012 points.

The tech rally on Wall Street provided particular momentum to export-oriented markets in Japan and South Korea, as investors absorbed the implications of a robust U.S. labor market for future monetary policy. The tension between sustained strong job growth and the Federal Reserve's efforts to combat inflation through potential rate hikes before year-end shaped regional market sentiment.