The Nikkei 225 Index Closes 0.94% Lower

The Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.81% to close at 63,493 on Monday, hitting a six-week low and tracking losses in US stock futures amid growing concerns over safety risks surrounding artificial intelligence development. On Saturday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urged AI companies to slow the development of their most advanced models due to safety concerns. Investors also contended with surging oil prices after Saudi Arabia shut down the critical East-West pipeline, which provides an alternative route around the Strait of Hormuz. Rising energy costs reinforced expectations for tighter monetary policy, with both the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan expected to raise interest rates this week. Tech and AI-linked stocks led the declines, with Kioxia Holdings (-6.4%), Advantest (-2%) and Taiyo Yuden (-5.4%) posting notable losses. In corporate news, SoftBank Group plunged 10.7% after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the ChatGPT maker would not pursue an initial public offering this year.

The Nikkei 225 Index decreased 604 points or 0.94 percent on Monday to close at 63407 points. The decline was led by Softbank (-11.38%), Resonac Holdings (-6.16%) and Taiyo Yuden (-5.73%). On the upside, the strongest performers were Fujitsu (6.83%), NEC (6.55%) and Recruit Holdings (5.87%).

The Nikkei 225 Index fell 1.7% to below 63,000 on Monday, hitting a six-week low and tracking declines in US stock futures amid rising concerns over the safety of artificial intelligence development. On Saturday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on AI companies to slow the development of their most advanced models due to safety risks, while pledging to introduce additional safeguards at the company. Investors also faced surging oil prices after Saudi Arabia shut down the critical East-West pipeline, which provides an alternative route to the Strait of Hormuz. Higher energy prices strengthened expectations for tighter monetary policy, with both the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan expected to raise interest rates this week. Tech and AI-related stocks led the losses, with Kioxia Holdings (-8.6%), SoftBank Group (-12%), Advantest (-4.5%), Taiyo Yuden (-8.3%) and Tokyo Electron (-2.6%) posting sharp declines.