The Nikkei 225 plunged in the morning amid declines in U.S. technology stocks, but pared its losses in the afternoon and narrowed the decline toward the close. It ended down ¥407.59, while the TOPIX edged higher.
Following turmoil in U.S. markets at the end of the previous week, Japanese stocks opened sharply lower on the morning of the 19th, with the Nikkei 225 coming under heavy selling pressure. Against a backdrop of caution over AI-related stocks and higher crude oil prices, the Nikkei 225 at one point fell more than ¥1,400.
After the morning selling, buying in Nikkei 225 futures and other factors helped narrow the decline. Selling continued in semiconductor-related and AI-related stocks, while some communications, retail and resource-related stocks remained firm. Before the close, the Nikkei 225 lost some of its recovery and at one point rebounded into the mid-¥64,000 range.
At the close, the Nikkei 225 was down ¥407.59 from the previous day at ¥64,916.70. Trading volume on the TSE Prime Market was approximately 2.06192 billion shares, with trading value of approximately ¥6.7835 trillion. Individual gainers included Recruit Holdings, BayCurrent Consulting, Kioxia Holdings, KDDI and Toyota Tsusho, while Tokyo Electron, Fast Retailing and SoftBank Group were among the decliners.