The Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.6% to below 69,500 on Wednesday, extending the previous session’s declines. Sentiment was weighed down by a tech-led selloff on Wall Street amid mounting concerns over aggressive AI-related capital expenditure by major cloud and hyperscale operators.
Domestically, the Bank of Japan’s Summary of Opinions from its June meeting indicated that most policymakers favor a continued path of interest rate hikes. They cited underlying inflation moving closer to the BOJ’s 2% target and noted that overall financial conditions remain accommodative.
On the geopolitical front, progress in US–Iran peace talks has supported an increase in shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, easing pressure on global energy supplies and tempering inflation worries.
Among notable laggards, Fujikura dropped 2.7%, Tokyo Electron lost 2.2%, Furukawa Electric fell 1.7%, Disco Corp slipped 2.2%, and Sumitomo Electric declined 1.6%.
