Japan’s Nikkei Falls as Chip Firms Extend Declines on DeepSeek
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index tumbles, with chip-related shares extending their declines to a second day after Chinese artificial-intelligence startup DeepSeek triggered selling of US tech shares.
Nikkei declined 1.4% to 39,016.87 as of market close
Topix Index was little changed at 2,756.90
The low-cost AI model offered by DeepSeek that rivals those of US companies raised concerns whether high valuations of firms including Nvidia Corp.
Nvidia shares erased $589 billion from its market capitalization — the most in history, while a closely watched gauge of chipmakers tumbled more than 9%.
The DeepSeek news is impacting the early preparation stage for AI “which is particularly important in Japan,” says Ryoutarou Sawada, an analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory.
“Semiconductor-related stocks contribute to the Nikkei 225 the most, so it is being hit the strongest.”
Nvidia tester supplier Advantest slides 11% while Disco lost about 3%.
Source: Bloomberg
