Nikkei 225 futures moved around ¥64,000–¥64,400 after opening higher at ¥64,610. The contract stayed above the lower Bollinger Band at -1σ, apparently prompting dip-buying long positions, while buying in US semiconductor and AI-related stocks drove the market.
As of 11:30, Nikkei 225 futures were trading ¥700 above the previous day. Buying led from the open, with the contract opening at ¥64,610, above the ¥64,410 level for Chicago futures during the day. After the open, profit-taking briefly pushed the contract down to ¥64,010, but it did not fall below the ¥64,000 milestone and settled into a ¥64,100–¥64,400 range late in the session.
The market carried forward the trend of buying in US semiconductor and AI-related stocks and pushed the Nikkei 225 higher. Specifically, Advantest, SoftBank Group, Tokyo Electron and Kioxia Holdings were the 4 stocks that contributed to the Nikkei 225's rise.
Nikkei 225 futures narrowed their gains toward the middle of the session, but the failure to break below the Bollinger Band's -1σ level encouraged long positions aimed at buying on dips late in the session. The rise in South Korea's KOSPI also reduced the incentive to initiate short positions.
The NT ratio for the lead futures contract rose to 16.00x from 15.83x the previous day. Semiconductor and AI-related stocks with a large impact on the indices led the market, while approximately 60% of TSE Prime stocks declined, suggesting that trading could continue to focus on the 75-day and 25-day moving averages.