The Nikkei opened the afternoon session more than ¥900 above the previous day's close, with continued buying of semiconductor-related stocks supporting the market.
The Nikkei began the afternoon session at ¥64,168.98, up ¥900.61 from the previous day, extending its gains as buying of semiconductor-related stocks continued. At the morning close, the Nikkei was up ¥798.73 at ¥64,067.10, while TOPIX was down 0.84 points at 3996.53. Market conditions reflected the strength of semiconductor-related stocks and a recovery in some large-cap stocks.
As of 10:15 a.m., the Nikkei remained firm. The top three positive contributors, Advantest, Tokyo Electron and SoftBank Group, had lifted the index by approximately ¥450. TOPIX's rate of increase was not as large as the Nikkei's, and some believed that buying had not spread across the market. A major securities firm was reported to be of the view that investors were waiting to assess the results ahead of the interim earnings announcements.
After the open, the Nikkei's gains at times exceeded ¥800, with buying led by semiconductor-related stocks as the market followed the trend in the US market. Expectations for a recovery in demand for semiconductor-related stocks and the performance of AI-related stocks were cited as factors supporting the overall market and drew attention as key market drivers.
The Nikkei also began the afternoon session up ¥470.61 from the previous day, with buying remaining dominant at times. As a result, the afternoon session's initial gain at times exceeded ¥800, and the semiconductor-led trend was expected to continue.