Japan's Nikkei tumbles as tech stocks hammered on US rate hike worries
TOKYO: Japan's Nikkei share average slumped in early trading on Thursday, with technology stocks hit hard after hot US inflation figures sparked fears of higher interest rates.
Japan's Nikkei share average plunged in early trading on Thursday, with technology stocks suffering significant losses following unexpectedly strong US inflation data. The tech-heavy Nikkei index fell by 3.5% by 0021 GMT, while the broader Topix index declined by 1.9%. The release of a hotter-than-expected US consumer price index reading on Wednesday had investors speculating that the Federal Reserve would need to raise interest rates sooner and maintain higher rates for longer periods of time.
This sentiment had a particularly negative impact on the highly leveraged tech sector. The US Nasdaq Composite index also dropped by 1.9% on Wednesday. In Japan, AI-related stocks led the market's decline, with chip equipment manufacturers Advantest and Tokyo Electron experiencing losses of 7.3% and 5.8% respectively. Additionally, SoftBank Group, a major player in AI-focused startup investments, fell by 7.9%.
Out of the 225 components in the Nikkei index, 151 declined while only 73 rose, with one stock remaining unchanged.
Written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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