The Nikkei 225 closed 2.33% lower on Thursday as a sell-off in Asian chipmakers dragged Tokyo shares down. Memory-chip names led the retreat, and traders trimmed positions ahead of the June U.S. payrolls report.
A rotation out of Asian semiconductor stocks pushed the Nikkei 225 down 2.33% to 68,831 on Thursday, as investors unwound the AI-hardware bets that had powered a strong second quarter. The sell-off was concentrated in tech-heavy markets across the region, weighing on the benchmark Tokyo index.
Chip names lead the losers
Memory and materials stocks did the most damage in Tokyo. Kioxia Holdings fell 13.47% to 76,260, while Mitsui Mining and Smelting dropped 11.38% and Taiyo Yuden shed 9.95%. Losses in the Paper & Pulp, Transport and Communication sectors added to the decline.
The pressure extended across the region. South Korea’s KOSPI tumbled as much as 5%, with SK Hynix down 7.7% and Samsung off 6.2% after Reuters reported that Meta Platforms is building a cloud business to sell excess AI computing capacity to third parties — a development that puts the demand thesis for memory chips into question.
Yen firms, payrolls loom
The yen strengthened as USD/JPY slipped 0.42% to 161.87, pulling back from a fresh 40-year high reached earlier in the week. The Nikkei Volatility index fell 11.80% to 33.78.
Traders are also pre-positioning ahead of the June U.S. non-farm payrolls report, due later Thursday, the session’s defining catalyst. Treasury yields have already climbed through the week in anticipation of a firm print, keeping traders cautious on rate-sensitive tech valuations.
Sources: Investing.com UK, Investing.com
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