The Nikkei 225 Index Closes 5.04% Lower

The Nikkei 225 Index plunged 4.9% to close at 64,426 on Thursday, marking its biggest one-day drop since March as the selloff in technology stocks intensified on mounting concerns over the sustainability of massive artificial intelligence investments. The sector’s credit outlook deteriorated on expectations that policymakers will have to raise borrowing costs to contain persistent energy-driven inflation. Japanese companies have significant exposure to the global AI infrastructure buildout, leaving them vulnerable to sharp market repricing amid AI elevated valuations. Tech and AI-linked stocks led the declines in Japan, with sharp losses from Kioxia (-12.5%), Advantest 9-14.2%), SoftBank Group (-8.9%), Taiyo Yuden (-10%) and Lasertec (-13.3%). Banking stocks also weakened, including Mitsubishi UFJ (-1.6%), Sumitomo Mitsui (-1.7%) and Mizuho Financial (-2.7%).

The Nikkei 225 Index dropped 3413 points or 5.04 percent on Thursday to close at 64332 points. Losses were led by Advantest (-14.39%), Sumco (-13.62%) and Lasertec Corp (-12.83%).

JP225 decreased to 64380.00 Index Points, the lowest since September 2026. Over the past 4 weeks, Japan Stock Market Index (JP225) gained 0.76%, and in the last 12 months, it increased 33.42%.