Tokyo stocks struggled to gain ground as new buying catalysts were scarce, with the afternoon session opening below the morning closing level.
The Nikkei average opened the afternoon session at ¥65,928.98, up ¥602.56 from the previous day, but overall gains were losing momentum as fresh clues to spur buying remained scarce.
At the morning close, the Nikkei average was up ¥656.07 from the previous day at ¥65,982.49, while TOPIX stood at 4,048.72, up 36.41 points. As concerns over the finances of artificial intelligence-related companies continued to simmer, some semiconductor-related shares fell, limiting the indexes' upside.
At 10:16, the Nikkei average briefly extended its gains to more than ¥900. As a pause in the rise in U.S. interest rates prompted continued short-covering and reassessment buying, lagging sectors that had previously been led higher by AI-related stocks stood out among the sectoral gainers. Tokyo Electron and Ibiden edged lower, while Sumitomo Metal Mining remained firm, benefiting from higher metal prices.
The morning session opened with the Nikkei average rebounding to ¥65,732.79, up ¥406.37 from the previous day, as bargain buying led the broader market after the sharp decline.