Japanese Stocks Weaken, SoftBank Plunges Sharply
Japanese stocks closed sharply lower on Friday (June 26th), dragged down by significant pressure on technology stocks. The Nikkei 225 index fell 4.15% to close at 69,361, while the broader Topix index fell 1.32% to 3,963. This decline erased gains seen in the previous session.
The main pressure came from the technology sector, as investor concerns grew about the massive spending on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. This sentiment put tech-based stocks under selling pressure again, especially after the previous rally was seen to be losing steam.
SoftBank Group was in the spotlight after its shares plunged nearly 13%. This sharp decline occurred after reports emerged that OpenAI could delay its initial public offering (IPO) plans until 2027. This news dampened market expectations regarding potential returns for SoftBank, a major investor in the company.
Other technology stocks also weakened significantly. Kioxia Holdings fell 11.2%, Fujikura weakened 4.7%, Advantest plummeted 9.6%, Tokyo Electron fell 3.2%, and Taiyo Yuden fell 10.8%. Economically, the latest data showed Tokyo's core inflation rose for the first time in eight months. This condition strengthens expectations that the Bank of Japan is still likely to continue raising interest rates in the future. (asd)
Source: Newsmaker.id
