The Japanese market experienced significant declines on Thursday, continuing the trend from the previous session. The Nikkei 225 fell sharply, approaching the 40,300 level, influenced by mixed cues from global markets and weakness across most sectors—particularly technology stocks following the tech-heavy Nasdaq's downturn. The only sector showing some resilience was financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index dropped 762.04 points, or 1.85%, to 40,335.65, after hitting a low of 40,112.56 earlier in the session. Japanese shares had already ended modestly lower on Wednesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group saw a drop of over 5%, and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing edged down by 0.5%. Among automakers, Toyota lost nearly 3%, while Honda declined by more than 2%.
In the technology sector, Advantest fell by more than 4%, Tokyo Electron plummeted almost 10%, and Screen Holdings plunged over 8%.
Conversely, financial stocks performed better, with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial gaining almost 1%, Mizuho Financial edging up 0.1%, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial adding over 1%.
Exporters also faced declines: Sony and Mitsubishi Electric each fell by more than 2%, Canon edged down by 0.5%, and Panasonic lost almost 1%.
Other significant losers included Disco, which plummeted over 8%, and Socionext, which plunged more than 6%. Renesas Electronics and Lasertec each dropped almost 6%, while Mazda Motor, Fujikura, Resonac Holdings, and Sumco declined nearly 5% each. Ebara and Hoya slipped more than 4%, with SMC down almost 4%.
On the brighter side, Nichirei gained over 5%, while Nitori Holdings and Kansai Electric Power each added more than 3%. Asahi Group rose by nearly 3%.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the lower 156 yen range on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks delivered a mixed performance on Wednesday amidst geopolitical concerns and a profit warning from Dutch semiconductor firm ASML, creating a cautious market mood. The Dow achieved a new high, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended sharply lower.
The Dow gained 243.60 points, or 0.59%, to close at 41,198.08. The S&P 500 saw a decline of 78.93 points, or 1.39%, settling at 5,588.27, and the Nasdaq dropped 512.42 points, or 2.77%, to 17,996.92.
European markets were mixed as well. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 closed down by 0.44% and 0.12%, respectively, while the UK's FTSE 100 climbed by 0.28%.
Crude oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday after data revealed an unexpected significant drop in U.S. crude inventories for the week, coupled with support from a weaker dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August rallied $2.09, or 2.6%, to $82.85 a barrel.
