The Nikkei average index closed down 510 points or 1%, narrowly holding above 49,000 points

AASTOCKS
2025.12.18 06:56

The Bank of Japan will announce its interest rate decision tomorrow (19th), with the market expecting a rate hike of 25 basis points. Japanese stocks fell today (18th), influenced by reports that Oracle's artificial intelligence data center plans are facing obstacles, triggering new concerns about AI investments. The Nikkei average index reversed its previous day's gains, opening down 453 points, initially dropping 868 points to 48,643 points before narrowing its losses, closing down 510 points or 1% at 49,001 points.

In the AI concept and semiconductor stocks, SoftBank (9984.JP), Tokyo Electron (8035.JP), Renesas Electronics (6920.JP), Discus (6146.JP), and Nvidia supplier Advantest (6857.JP) fell by 3.2% to 4.3%. Memory chip stock Kioxia (285A.JP) rose 2.3%, supported by Micron's quarterly results exceeding expectations. Wire stocks such as Furukawa Electric (5801.JP) fell 1.6%, while Sumitomo Electric (5802.JP) and Fujikura (5803.JP) dropped 3.8% and 3.4%.

Robot stocks Fanuc (6954.JP) and Yaskawa Electric (6506.JP) fell 2.6% and 3.1%. Heavy industry stocks Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011.JP) and IHI (7013.JP) dropped 2.5% and 2.2%, while Kawasaki Heavy Industries (7012.JP) fell 4.5%. JX Metals (5016.JP) fell 2.6%, while electric power stock Tokyo Electric Power Company (9501.JP) rose 2.6%, as one of its nuclear power units in Niigata Prefecture is reported to restart next month.

In other stocks, Toyota (7203.JP) and Rakuten Group (4755.JP) rose 0.4% and 0.3%, while Fast Retailing (9983.JP) and Ryohin Keikaku (7453.JP) fell 0.6% and 0.4%. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.JP) fell 1%, Nintendo (7974.JP) fell 1.7%, and cartoon IP parent company Sanrio (8136.JP), Panasonic (6752.JP), and Hitachi (6501.JP) fell 2.3% to 3%. Asahi Group (2502.JP) saw its stock price drop 5.7% after being accused of overpaying for the acquisition of a brewery in East Africa. SBI Shinsei Bank (8303.JP) continued to see active trading after its first day of listing yesterday (17th), closing up 10.9%.

The Japanese yen fell 0.1% during the Asian session, with the dollar trading at 155.87 yen

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