Market Overview
Tokyo equities advanced broadly on Thursday, with buying concentrated in AI-linked semiconductor names, mining stocks, and financials as the Japanese yen extended its slide to its weakest level against the dollar in roughly 39 and a half years, trading in the mid-163 range. The currency’s historic weakness lent support to export-oriented and commodity-sensitive sectors, though domestic retailers and real estate companies came under sharp pressure. The divergence between winners and losers painted a clear picture of a market navigating both opportunity and structural tension.
Top Gainers
The session’s strongest performers were clustered around two clear themes: materials and technology.
- Sumitomo Metal Mining Co (5713) surged +5.07%, leading the Nikkei 225, as the historic yen weakness boosted the appeal of yen-denominated commodity producers and nonferrous metal names.
- Lasertec Corp (6920) jumped +4.98% and Advantest Corp (6857) gained +4.11%, reflecting renewed enthusiasm for AI and semiconductor-related equities — a theme explicitly noted in market commentary circulating during the session.
- IHI Corporation (7013) rose +3.96% and Japan Steel Works (5631) added +3.24%, benefiting from tailwinds across the industrial and defense-adjacent machinery space.
- SoftBank Group Corp (9984) climbed +3.77%, continuing to attract interest as a bellwether for AI investment sentiment.
- Mizuho Financial Group (8411) advanced +2.78%, consistent with the broader banking sector’s outperformance, as a weaker yen and steeper rate expectations supported financial stocks. Regional banking consolidation also remained a backdrop theme, with reports of final-stage merger negotiations between financial institutions in Ehime Prefecture.
Top Decliners
Domestic consumption and real estate names bore the brunt of the day’s selling.
- Takashimaya Co (8233) fell -6.14%, the steepest decline on the Nikkei 225, with fellow department store operators J. Front Retailing (3086) and Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings (3099) dropping -5.39% and -4.65% respectively. A yen at multi-decade lows raises costs for import-dependent retailers while squeezing real consumer purchasing power.
- Mitsubishi Estate (8802) shed -3.43% and Sumitomo Realty & Development (8830) lost -2.58%, as the real estate sector came under broad pressure.
- Mitsubishi Motor Corp (7211) declined -3.02%, an outlier among automakers, even as the weak yen is generally viewed as favorable for the sector overall.
- Ajinomoto (2802) and Sapporo Breweries (2501) also retreated, reflecting weakness across food and consumer staples.
Sector Snapshot
Mining (+2.27%) was the day’s top-performing sector, followed by Shipbuilding (+1.63%), Machinery (+1.57%), and Banks (+1.43%) — all sectors with meaningful exposure to either export competitiveness or commodity pricing dynamics amplified by yen depreciation. Trading Companies (+1.39%) and Nonferrous Metals (+1.21%) also featured prominently among leaders.
On the other end of the spectrum, Retail (-2.10%) was the weakest sector, followed by Fisheries (-1.56%), Real Estate (-1.39%), and Food (-1.09%). Services (-0.67%), Railways & Buses (-0.80%), and Pharmaceuticals (-0.56%) also struggled, underscoring investor caution toward domestically-oriented businesses as the yen’s purchasing power erodes. Keidanren’s summer forum, which called on major corporations to lead domestic capital investment, reflects the broader policy debate about how to translate corporate strength into sustainable internal demand.
Source: Tokyo Stock Exchange data | Japan Economic News