The Nikkei Average Index fell 644 points or 1.3% in the first half of the day, with wire and machinery stocks under pressure

Japanese stocks fell this morning (16th), influenced by the decline of technology stocks in the US, with the Nikkei average index falling below the 25-day moving average, triggering technical selling pressure. After opening down 116 points, the Nikkei average index's decline expanded, dropping as much as 735 points to a low of 49,432 points, closing down 644 points or 1.3% at 49,523 points.

AI concept and semiconductor stocks fell, with Raytech (6920.JP) and SoftBank (9984.JP) down 1.8% and 1.7%, respectively. Tokyo Electron (8035.JP) fell 1.4%, Nvidia supplier Advantest (6857.JP) fell 0.3%, and Discus (6146.JP) and memory chip stock Kioxia (285A.JP) fell 2.4% and 2.6%. Wire stocks Furukawa Electric (5801.JP) and Fujikura (5803.JP) fell 4% and 5.7%, while Sumitomo Electric (5802.JP) fell 4.4%.

Robot stocks Fanuc (6954.JP) and Yaskawa Electric (6506.JP) fell 4% and 6%. Heavy industry stocks Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011.JP) fell 1.5%, while Kawasaki Heavy Industries (7012.JP) and IHI (7013.JP) fell 2.2% and 2.3%. JX Metals (5016.JP) fell 3.2%, and electric power stock Tokyo Electric Power (9501.JP) fell 2.3%.

Banking stocks Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (8306.JP) fell 1.8%, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial (8316.HK) and Mizuho Financial (8411.JP) fell 2.3%. In other stocks, Toyota (7203.JP), Ryohin Keikaku (7453.JP), and cartoon IP parent company Sanrio (8136.JP) fell 0.3% to 0.5%, while Hitachi (6501.JP) and Sony (6758.JP) fell 0.9% and 1%, Fast Retailing (9983.JP) fell 1.2%, Rakuten Group (4755.JP) fell 2.3%, and Panasonic (6752.JP) fell 4.3%.

The Japanese yen rose, with the dollar against the yen down 0.3% at 154.79