The Tokyo stock market remained directionless, with buying momentum weak in the afternoon session as well. The Nikkei 225 opened sharply lower, while TOPIX was also reported to have reached a ceiling at times.
As of 13:52, the Nikkei 225 was sharply lower and directionless, with declines in South Korean and Taiwanese stock indexes and softer Nasdaq 100 futures reportedly triggering a global sell-off in technology stocks. There was some dip-buying in the afternoon session, but buying momentum failed to continue.
The Nikkei 225 opened the afternoon session at ¥67,490.11, down approximately ¥1,540.81 from the previous trading day, and the decline narrowed as some major high-tech stocks recovered. At the morning close, the Nikkei was down ¥1,738.53 from the previous day at ¥67,292.39, while TOPIX was down 18.90 points at 4,085.91.
Concerns over intensifying competition in semiconductor memory and other factors in the US market weighed on equities, with selling in large-cap AI-related stocks pushing stock indexes lower. Meanwhile, financial and automobile stocks and other sectors unrelated to AI attracted buying, and approximately 60% of Prime Market issues rose.
At 10:08, the Nikkei 225 briefly fell more than ¥1,600 from the previous weekend, reaching the mid-¥67,000 range. Advantest, SoftBank Group and other AI-related stocks ranked among the largest negative contributors to the Nikkei.