Japanese Shares Rise Amid Soft GDP Data

2026-08-17 00:37 By Jam Kaimo Samonte 1 min. read

The Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.4% toward 69,000 on Monday, extending last week’s gains after preliminary data showed Japan’s economy expanded less than expected in the second quarter, as weak domestic demand offset robust exports.

Still, strong demand related to artificial intelligence continued to support the outlook for Japanese companies deeply integrated into the global semiconductor supply chain.

Chip and AI-linked stocks mostly advanced, including Kioxia Holdings (2.9%), Advantest (3.9%), Fujikura (3%), Tokyo Electron (1.6%) and Furukawa Electric (4.1%).

Meanwhile, financial and consumer stocks mostly declined.

In corporate news, Nvidia is reportedly planning to invest up to $3 billion in SB Energy, a SoftBank Group subsidiary developing a major data center project in Ohio for OpenAI.



News Stream
Japanese Shares Rise Amid Soft GDP Data
The Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.4% toward 69,000 on Monday, extending last week’s gains after preliminary data showed Japan’s economy expanded less than expected in the second quarter, as weak domestic demand offset robust exports. Still, strong demand related to artificial intelligence continued to support the outlook for Japanese companies deeply integrated into the global semiconductor supply chain. Chip and AI-linked stocks mostly advanced, including Kioxia Holdings (2.9%), Advantest (3.9%), Fujikura (3%), Tokyo Electron (1.6%) and Furukawa Electric (4.1%). Meanwhile, financial and consumer stocks mostly declined. In corporate news, Nvidia is reportedly planning to invest up to $3 billion in SB Energy, a SoftBank Group subsidiary developing a major data center project in Ohio for OpenAI.
2026-08-17
The Nikkei 225 Index Closes 0.63% Higher
The Nikkei 225 Index gained 432 points or 0.63 percent on Friday to close at 68741 points. Gains were led by Nintendo Co (6.80%), Sony (5.38%) and Furukawa (5.33%). Biggest losers were Isetan Mitsukoshi (-3.92%), DIC (-3.84%) and Toppan (-3.52%).
2026-08-14
Japanese Shares Follow Wall Street Higher
The Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.59% to close at 68,714, while the broader Topix Index gained 0.51% to 4,197 on Friday, with Japanese shares extending their rally and following a strong lead from Wall Street as subdued US inflation data prompted traders to scale back expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike in September. Markets are now pricing in around a 35% chance of a 25 basis point Fed rate hike in September, down from 55% a week earlier. Domestically, investors are speculating about a possible Bank of Japan rate hike in September or October amid concerns that a weak yen could add to inflationary pressures. Technology stocks led the gains amid renewed interest in the artificial intelligence trade, including Kioxia Holdings (3.8%), Advantest (2.6%) and SoftBank Group (2.9%). The Nikkei and Topix indexes advanced 4.74% and 3% for the week, respectively.
2026-08-14