FX.co ★ Japanese Shares Fall as SoftBank Tumbles

The Nikkei 225 dipped by 0.6% to approximately 50,300, while the Topix retreated 0.5% to 3,372 on Thursday. This downturn marked a reversal of earlier gains, primarily influenced by the significant losses experienced by SoftBank Group, mirroring the sharp decline in Oracle's performance. The prominent Japanese investment firm, SoftBank, saw its shares plummet nearly 7% following Oracle’s over 11% slide in after-hours trading, prompted by a revenue shortfall and weak profit outlook. Previously, SoftBank and Oracle, alongside OpenAI, had unveiled plans for the Stargate project, which involves establishing AI data centers in the United States. Other notable companies faced similar downward trends, with Lasertec, Mitsubishi Heavy, Sanrio, Nintendo, and Tokyo Electron declining between 1.1% and 3.1%. Concurrently, the U.S. Federal Reserve executed its third interest rate cut for 2025, yet indicated a more cautious approach to easing measures the following year. On the domestic front, Japanese stocks encountered further pressure due to escalating expectations of a potential interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan in the coming week.