The Nikkei 225 was trading about 260 points higher in the morning session on the 15th, although it briefly fell as selling pressure emerged early in the session. It subsequently rebounded, with moves in individual stocks driving the market.
In the market on the morning of the 15th, the Nikkei 225 was trading approximately 260 points above the previous day’s close, reaching 63,817.01 at one point as of 9:45 a.m., up 324.00 points. Early in the session, concerns over proposals calling for US companies to slow the pace of AI development provided a selling catalyst, with selling concentrated in AI-related and data-center stocks.
After the initial selling subsided, moves in related stocks settled down, while Kioxia and Taiyo Yuden, among others, turned higher. In the US market, AI-related stocks fell and the SOX Index declined sharply, while the yen-denominated settlement price for Chicago Nikkei 225 futures was approximately 230 points below the previous day’s level.
By sector, 12 of the 33 sectors rose and 21 fell. LINE and SoftBank Group in the information and communications sector, along with pharmaceutical stocks including Takeda Pharmaceutical and Shionogi, rose. Some services, glass and ceramics, chemicals, and metal products stocks were also firm, while insurance and securities, commodities and futures stocks were weak.
As of 10:08 a.m., dollar-yen was trading around the mid-¥154 range and euro-yen around the mid-¥178 range. Overall, the market was tilted toward neutral, but remained prone to moves driven by individual stocks.