The Nikkei Average recorded its first decline in six sessions, standing at ¥68,098.54 at 11:30, down ¥1,121.71 from the previous day. Selling spread mainly across high-priced stocks, with Advantest having a significant negative impact on the index.
Tokyo markets opened sharply lower on the morning of the 18th, following declines in U.S. stocks. Among the index constituents, 106 stocks rose, 116 fell and 3 were unchanged, indicating a broadly weak market, while estimated trading volume was approximately 1.09154 billion shares.
Among individual stocks, SoftBank Group, Olympus, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsui & Co., and Daiichi Sankyo rose, while Advantest, Tokyo Electron, Kioxia Holdings, Fast Retailing, Murata Manufacturing, TDK, Taiyo Yuden, FANUC, Ibiden, Fujikura, Lasertec, Recruit Holdings, Disco, Kyocera and SCREEN Holdings declined. By sector, marine transportation, mining, and oil and coal products rose, while electrical equipment, nonferrous metals and metal products fell.
Advantest was the top decliner by contribution, dragging the Nikkei Average down by about ¥376. Tokyo Electron ranked second, followed by Kioxia Holdings, Fast Retailing, Murata Manufacturing, TDK and Taiyo Yuden, which also made successive negative contributions. On the upside, SoftBank Group was the top contributor, lifting the index by about ¥122, followed by Olympus, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsui & Co.
As of 11:30, the Nikkei Average stood at ¥68,098.54, down ¥1,121.71 from the previous day. There were 106 advancing stocks, 116 declining stocks and 3 unchanged stocks. The total contribution breakdown consisted of positive contributions from advancing stocks and negative contributions from declining stocks, resulting overall in a substantial decline from the previous day.