After Friday’s Drop, the Nikkei Rises, But Chip Stocks Are Still Under Pressure

Japan’s Nikkie: Despite pressure on some industries, the Nikkei share average increased, demonstrating resilience after Friday’s large losses.on Monday.

During the lunch break, the Nikkei rose by 0.72 percent to 37,334.97, with previous advances reaching as high as 1 percent. The market turbulence on Friday, sparked by worries over the rising tensions in the Middle East, caused the index to fall 2.66 percent, marking the worst decrease in more than a year and a half.

As a result of Friday’s sell-off, investors seemed to be feeling more optimistic, according to Shuji Hosoi, a senior strategist at Daiwa Securities. But the semiconductor industry continued to be a source of worry, reflecting losses that its American rivals had to endure.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and other U.S. equities linked to chips suffered on Friday, marking the worst weekly percentage decline in over two years.

As a result, Japanese semiconductor makers Tokyo Electron and Advantest had 4.06 percent and 3.85 percent decreases, respectively. With a 5.6% decline, Socionext, a fabless system-on-chip design company, suffered the biggest percentage loss on the Nikkei.

Nissan Motor saw difficulties as well, with a 2.62 percent decline after a 14.5% downward revision to its year-end operating profit projection due to lower-than-expected car sales.

Nonetheless, the market did have some strong areas. Resilience was shown by the larger Topix index, which increased 1.41 percent to 2,660.84. Most industries were reflecting this optimistic outlook, with increases seen in around 90% of Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed equities.

The largest rise in utility stocks was recorded by Kansai Electric Power, which increased by 5.61 percent. Chubu Electric Power and Osaka Gas also had significant increases, rising by 4.53 percent and 4.69 percent, respectively.

Despite persistent uncertainty, Monday’s trading session revealed a mixed picture. Investors were warily handling global tensions and sector-specific problems while looking for opportunities amid market turbulence.