The Nikkei recorded its third-largest point decline ever on the 15th, falling ¥3,300. An upside surprise in U.S. CPI brought the CoreWeave shock into focus and revived concerns about financing risks for AI-related stocks, but the Nikkei recovered on the 16th, averting a chain reaction of stock-market declines.
The Nikkei fell ¥3,300 on the 15th, its third-largest point decline ever. U.S. stocks, by contrast, rebounded that day, and the Nikkei recovered again on the following day, the 16th. This led to growing views that a chain reaction of stock-market declines had been avoided.
The background included a core U.S. CPI reading that exceeded market expectations, rekindling expectations of further U.S. rate hikes. In particular, concerns intensified over rising financing costs for AI-related companies, while CoreWeave's corporate bond yields surged and its share price also fell sharply.
CoreWeave is considered a pioneer in the neocloud sector, and credit concerns spread to other AI-related stocks. However, some expectations were expressed that movements in credit default swaps (CDS) indicated relatively little impact on major hyperscalers. Strong results from ASML and TSMC, meanwhile, helped ease market concerns by pointing to robust semiconductor demand.
Going forward, results from major hyperscalers and the earnings trends of AI-related companies will be the focus, with the market expected to assess whether the concerns remain limited.