Rally Subsides, Weaker Yen Helps Exports
Japanese stocks closed Tuesday with mixed results due to profit-taking after a strong rally fueled by stimulus hopes under Sanae Takaichi. The Topix edged up 0.1% to 3,227.91, while the Nikkei was nearly flat at 47,950.88. Of the 1,672 Topix constituents, 803 rose, 796 fell, and 73 were unchanged. According to Anna Wu (VanEck), the market is "just taking a breather" after yesterday's 4.8% surge—a common pattern following event-driven moves.
The yen's weakness—holding above 150 per dollar—has provided a boost to exporters, particularly automotive companies. Toyota rose 1.7% and was the largest contributor to the Topix's rise. Hiroshi Namioka (T&D Asset Management) said the weak yen creates a conducive environment for exporters previously pressured by tariffs and price pressures.
AI-themed sectors like Advantest and Fujikura remained solid, boosted by positive sentiment after AMD surged 24% on its AI infrastructure deal with OpenAI. However, some of yesterday's big winners—electronics and software—were actually weighing on the index; NEC fell 2.9%. Tomoaki Kawasaki (Iwai Cosmo) sees this as pure profit-taking; he expects IT stocks to recover as they are central to Takaichi's domestic spending plans once prices stabilize. (az)
Source: Newsmaker.id
