In Tokyo trading on 15 October, the Nikkei 225 fell sharply, closing at ¥64,425.95, down ¥3,318.34 from the previous day. The main factors were growing financial concerns over a US data center company serving the AI sector in the US stock market and accelerating US CPI growth, which heightened fears of additional rate hikes.
In Tokyo trading on 15 October, the Nikkei 225 fell sharply, closing at ¥64,425.95, down ¥3,318.34 from the previous day. It ended below ¥65,000 and recorded its sixth consecutive session of declines.
The sharp drop was driven by growing concerns in the previous day's US market over the financial condition of a US start-up engaged in AI data center operations. Rising bond yields spread into broader concerns over its ability to secure financing, while the stronger-than-expected September CPI reading further strengthened expectations of additional rate hikes.
In Tokyo, selling emerged first in semiconductor-related stocks, with mega-cap names such as Advantest, Tokyo Electron and SoftBank Group falling across the board. These 3 stocks alone pulled the Nikkei 225 down by more than ¥2,100 in total. TOPIX, by contrast, fell only 97.44 points to 3,999.34, indicating that the main factor weighing on the broader market was the performance of individual AI-related stocks.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) released its results in the afternoon, but the overall negative sentiment remained. The Nikkei 225's 4.90% decline was substantial even compared with previous sharp sell-offs, and market participants increasingly viewed the market as likely to remain prone to sharp swings in response to negative AI-related news. Earnings announcements from semiconductor and IT companies are expected to be the market's focus going forward, while investors are expected to adopt a stronger profit-taking and risk-averse stance.