On February 18, the Nikkei 225 index opened higher and extended gains by more than 1%. As of the latest update, the index rose by 666 points to reach 57,232.49. The South Korean stock market was closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

The yen exchange rate briefly strengthened during the session, with the USD/JPY pair last trading at 153.483.

In related news, Japan's Cabinet, led by Sanae Takaichi, resigned en masse on the morning of February 18. Later that day, both houses of the Japanese Diet were scheduled to hold elections to designate a new Prime Minister. The newly elected Prime Minister is expected to form a new cabinet on the same day. According to Japan's constitution, the cabinet must resign collectively when the Diet convenes for the first time following a general election for the House of Representatives.

Japanese government bond yields fell across the board. The yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond declined to 2.114%, while the 30-year bond yield dropped to 3.392%.

In international precious metals markets, gold and silver opened lower but then staged a strong rally. Spot gold briefly climbed to $4,900 per ounce, marking a daily increase of 0.43%. Spot silver, which had fallen over 1.6% earlier, was last quoted at $73.6 per ounce, up 0.15% for the day.

Data released by Japan's Ministry of Finance on February 18 showed that Japan recorded a trade deficit of ¥1,152.6 billion for the month of January.