The Nikkei Average started at a level ¥466 lower at the open. Declines were prominent across sectors, with stocks including Kioxia Holdings and Taiyo Yuden falling.
At the opening on the 13th, the Nikkei Stock Average began trading at ¥68,564.85, down ¥466.07 from the previous day. Although movements in the Dow Average were limited, selling prevailed in the Japanese market as investors assessed developments in the U.S. market. In the U.S. market the previous day, the Dow rose while the Nasdaq fell, and the outlook for oil prices and caution over AI-related stocks at times pushed share prices lower. In response, buying on dips and purchases aimed at an independent rebound were expected in the Japanese market, but selling prevailed at the opening.
By sector, nonferrous metals, electric appliances, information and communications, metal products, and glass and ceramics products were among the leading decliners. Meanwhile, marine transportation, insurance, banking, securities and commodity futures, and mining were relatively firm or rose modestly. Decliners at the open included Kioxia Holdings, Taiyo Yuden, Disco, and Hitachi. Advancers included Yaskawa Electric, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and Mizuho Financial Group.
Among individual stocks, multiple names were cited as decliners, led by Kioxia Holdings and Taiyo Yuden, while Toyota Motor, Honda, and Fast Retailing were also cited as trading factors among the stocks that remained firm. Against a backdrop of developments in the U.S. market at the end of the previous week and uncertainty over the situation in the Middle East, investor interest in AI-related and semiconductor-related stocks was weighing on the market overall.