Japan's Nikkei slumps as Wall Street tech selloff bites

Tokyo witnessed a slump in Japan's Nikkei share gauge on Friday, mirroring a tech-led downturn on Wall Street overnight. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index tumbled 1.71% to 61,832.66 in early trading. The broader Topix index mirrored the decline, falling 1.26% to 3,947.11. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 also experienced declines, with the S&P 500 dropping 1.21%.

The downturn in technology stocks on Wall Street triggered the slide, as investors shifted their focus towards defensive sectors like consumer staples and healthcare. Nvidia, a leading semiconductor company, saw its share price drop by about 4% amid the AI and semiconductor selloff. Meta Platforms, Meta, experienced a 7% decline after reporting its earnings, amid investor concerns over its AI spending. Tesla also took a 3.1% hit following its earnings announcement and a revised capital spending plan for 2026.

Analyst Yoshitaka Araya from Monex Securities commented on the situation, stating that the Japanese market would likely begin trading with sellers in control, following the selling-dominated tone observed in the US market. The Nikkei 225 index had 96 advancing stocks and 120 declining stocks. The most significant losers in the index were Sumco, which plummeted 8.95%, followed by Disco, which dropped 7.59%, and Mitsui Kinzoku, which saw a decline of 6.65%.

On the other hand, Aeon emerged as the largest gainer, with a 3.98% increase, while Sapporo Holdings and Kikkoman also showed positive momentum, gaining 3.74% and 3.69% respectively.