The Nikkei 225 Index fell 2% to below 68,000 in post-holiday trading on Tuesday, marking a fourth straight session of losses and mirroring an overnight tech-led selloff on Wall Street. Technology shares came under heavy pressure as mounting concerns over the sustainability of the AI trade prompted investors to reassess capital expenditure plans in the face of rising borrowing costs.
Broadcom CEO Hock Tan warned that the AI boom had drawn in investors whose behavior increasingly resembles gambling, while billionaire Ray Dalio characterized AI as a “classic bubble” nearing a potential bursting point as higher interest rates push investors to convert paper wealth into cash.
The downturn hit key technology and AI-linked names hard, with steep losses in Kioxia Holdings (-9.3%), Advantest (-5.3%), SoftBank Group (-7%), Taiyo Yuden (-5.6%), and Tokyo Electron (-4.5%).
