Nikkei 225 falls; morning close down ¥1,639 to ¥63,019

The Nikkei 225 fell sharply in morning trading in Tokyo on the 30th, with the morning close down ¥1,639.69 from the previous day at ¥60,301.78. Following declines led by technology stocks in the U.S. equity market, high-priced AI- and semiconductor-related stocks came under heavy selling pressure. The Nikkei 225's decline exceeded ¥1,900 at one point, and the index briefly fell below ¥63,000. Advantest, Tokyo Electron, SoftBank Group and Ibiden, 4 stocks in total, pushed the Nikkei 225 down by approximately ¥1,200.

Concerns about the profitability of AI investment resurfaced after Amazon's July–September 2026 results showed a widening free-cash-flow deficit. Amazon and Intel shares fell sharply in after-hours trading. In Tokyo, Ibiden, which counts Intel as a major customer, was sold down to near the lower price limit. Declines in the South Korean equity market were also moving in tandem with the Nikkei 225.

The TOPIX also fell, with the morning close down 52.05 points at 3,951.23. The JPX Prime 150 Index also declined. As of the morning close, estimated trading value on the TSE Prime Market was ¥3.9088 trillion, trading volume was 1.04926 billion shares, 774 stocks had declined, 740 had risen and 37 were unchanged.

TDK, Kioxia and Lasertec were among the stocks showing notable declines as of the morning close, while Fast Retailing, Bandai Namco Holdings and KDDI rose. Tighter tensions in the Middle East and a sharp rise in New York crude oil futures were cited as market factors. Some market participants said short-term selling was likely to continue as Japanese companies' earnings remained solid and interim results for the fiscal year ending March continued to be announced.

According to Nikkei QUICK News (NQN), movements in AI and semiconductor stocks are expected to remain a key focus as a driver of the Nikkei 225.