I just looked at the performance of the Japanese market, and it's quite interesting. On Thursday, the Nikkei index finally reversed the previous three days' downward trend, with that drop wiping out over 4,600 points, a decline of nearly 8%. Fortunately, Thursday's rebound was strong, with the index soaring over 1,032 points, a gain of 1.90%, closing at 55,278.

Financial stocks and tech stocks led this rebound, but the performance of automakers was quite mixed. Specifically, Toyota fell 1.11%, Honda dropped even more sharply by 1.31%, but Mazda rose 1.31%. SoftBank Group performed the best, surging 4.26%, and the financial sector also did well, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial up 3.42%, Mizuho Financial jumping 6.37%, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial closing up 3.71%. Additionally, traditional industrial stocks like Mitsubishi Electric, Panasonic, and Hitachi also saw varying degrees of gains.

But can this rebound last? I don't think it's very optimistic. The global market backdrop remains very heavy. U.S. stocks performed poorly on Thursday, with the Dow Jones dropping 1.61%, and both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 also closing in the red. European markets are also showing similar weakness, so Asian markets are likely to be dragged down by this negative sentiment at the open on Friday.

A bigger issue is energy prices. Oil prices have gone wild this week. West Texas Intermediate crude surged to $81.17 a barrel on Thursday, an 8.7% increase in a single day, with a weekly gain of 21.1%. Behind this is the worsening situation in the Middle East, with Iran claiming to have hit a U.S. oil tanker and threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, which directly triggered market fears of a global energy supply disruption. U.S. Defense Secretary also signaled that the conflict could last around 8 weeks, further increasing market tension.

The surge in energy costs is having a tangible impact on the global economy, which is why, even though the Japanese stock market rebounded on Thursday, investor confidence remains fragile. Before the market opens on Friday, these risk factors have not been eliminated, and the Nikkei may continue to face pressure.