Japanese shares closed higher on Tuesday as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba prepared to meet US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Tokyo on Friday ahead of the Aug. 1 trade deal deadline.

The Nikkei 225 rose 0.55%, or 218.4 points, to end at 39,678.02.

Bessent will travel to Japan for the US national day at the World Expo in Osaka on July 19, skipping the G20 finance meeting in South Africa. He will lead a delegation that includes Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.

Japan's top negotiator Ryosei Akazawa is also expected to meet Bessent, though he has yet to reach a trade deal with the US despite seven visits since April.

In economic news, a Bank of Japan survey showed household inflation expectations held steady in the second quarter, with 85.1% expecting prices to rise over the next year, slightly down from 86.7% in March.

Of those, 33.4% foresee a significant increase and 51.7% a slight rise. Over five years, 83.1% expect higher prices, compared with 83.5% previously.

Households forecast average price growth of 12.8% for the coming year, the highest since September 2006.

On the corporate front, StemCell Institute (TYO:7096) will launch a 50:50 joint venture with Big Rainbow Investment, linked to Indonesia's Sinar Mas Group, to expand cell banking in Southeast Asia.

Operations will run through Singapore-based Stemcell Innovations, capitalized at SG$7 million, and are set to begin in March 2026. The venture may also explore oocyte storage and regenerative medicine.

Toyokumo (TYO:4058) reported June sales of 404 million yen, up 57.8% year on year. First-half FY25 sales rose 55.1% to 2.25 billion yen.

Towa Pharmaceutical (TYO:4553) said a fire at its Yamagata Plant on July 14 damaged part of the machine room but caused no injuries. The incident did not affect other buildings, which remain operational.

Source: MT Newswires