Nikkei Closes Nearly 1% Up, Chip and AI Names Do the Work

Quick overview

Monday was a solid session for Tokyo. The Nikkei ended at 59,349, picking up 524 points, though it had been even better earlier in the day when the index briefly pushed to 59,611 before buyers backed off a little. From the open it was clear the market wanted to go higher, and for the most part it held that conviction through the close.

The mood got a lift from talk that the US and Iran might be heading back to the table. No deal is done, but the possibility was enough to bring some risk appetite back into the room.

SoftBank was the one everyone was watching. It finished up 8.5% and hit a record in the process. Kioxia had a strong day too, gaining 7.3%. The chip and AI theme ran through most of the session, with Lasertec up 5.7%, Shinko Electric adding 5.5%, and Tokyo Electron closing 3.5% higher. Optical fiber names joined in as well. Fujikura was up 6.5%, Sumitomo Electric gained 3.2%, and Furukawa Electric added 2.8%.

Not every corner of the market played along. Toyota lost 3.2%, Nissan was off 2.5%, and Fast Retailing slipped 1.2%. IHI gave back 2.1%. In metals, Mitsui Mining put up a 5.4% gain but JX Metals went basically nowhere.

After the closing bell, Nojima said it was buying an 80% stake in Hitachi’s Japanese home appliance business. It came out of nowhere for most investors, and the stock reacted accordingly, shooting up 14.2% in after-hours trading. Hitachi had already added 0.7% during the regular session, though that looked more like coincidence than anything else.

The yen sat at 158.86 against the dollar, not far from the levels that have traders quietly watching for any sign Tokyo might step in.

With the Iran situation still the dominant macro theme, how the next round of diplomacy plays out will likely set the tone for the rest of the week.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR See More

Sophia Cruz

Financial Writer - Asian & European Desks

Sophia is an experienced writer, reporter and newsdesk member, mostly on the financial sectors. For the past 5 years Sophia has covered a wide variety of topics such as the financial markets, economics, technology, fin-tech and trading. Sophia has been a part of the FX Leaders team since 2017 and works on producing valuable content and information for traders of all levels of experience.

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