The Nikkei 225 recovered to 64,082.36 after rising about 1% in the morning, led by a sharp gain in SoftBank Group and advances in semiconductor stocks. A reassessment of warnings related to AI affected sentiment, while Leopalace21's tender offer announcement also left buy orders unexecuted.
The Nikkei 225 rose about 1% in morning trading to 64,082.36. It quickly moved out of negative territory after the open and ended the morning session back above the psychologically important 64,000 level. The TOPIX was virtually flat at 4,057.06.
SoftBank Group reversed the previous day's 10.7% plunge, surging 9.13% and leading the market higher. A reassessment of warnings from U.S. AI company executives about the pace of AI development encouraged inflows into technology stocks.
The return of funds to AI-related stocks lifted semiconductor-related shares, with Kioxia Holdings up 2.73%, Advantest up 0.8% and Tokyo Electron up 0.33%. Experts are closely watching the movement of investors' short-term funds.
Leopalace21 announced that Hikari Tsushin would launch a tender offer at ¥1,000 per share, and a flood of buy orders prevented any trades from being executed. Across the market, expectations for AI-driven growth continue to vie with concerns about tighter monetary policy.