Japanese stocks in the morning session were dominated by short-covering, sending the Nikkei Average back above ¥64,000. Against a backdrop of declines in the U.S. market, movements in individual stocks and sector trends were also reported.
U.S. stocks fell sharply in the previous day's session, with the Dow ending down $152.09 at $52,421.20 and the Nasdaq down 146.63 points at 26,186.41. The CEO of an artificial intelligence (AI)-related company warned of the risks of excessive development and called on the government to strengthen regulations, weighing on related stocks.
The Nikkei Average ended the morning session up ¥589.37 at ¥64,082.36. Although selling initially prevailed after the open, short-covering gained the upper hand and the index moved into positive territory before the end of the morning session. Gains spread mainly among high-priced stocks, and the index recovered to the ¥64,000 range toward the close.
Among individual stocks, SoftBank Group, Recruit Holdings, Murata Manufacturing, Ibiden, Kioxia Holdings, Taiyo Yuden, レーザーテクノロジー, Advantest, TDK, Tokyo Electron and Shionogi rose. Meanwhile, Fast Retailing, Toyota Tsusho, Konami Group, KDDI, Sony Group, Nitori Holdings, Bandai Namco Holdings, Mitsubishi Corporation and Itochu fell.
By sector, information and communications and pharmaceuticals rose, while securities and commodity futures trading, banking, and oil and coal products declined. The afternoon session is expected to see range-bound trading near the highs, with developments involving AI-related companies in the U.S., higher crude oil prices and concerns about an FOMC rate hike likely to remain market focal points.