Market Overview
Tokyo equities faced a sharply divided session on July 24, 2026, as a steep sell-off in semiconductor and technology-related stocks weighed heavily on the broader market. While defensive sectors including pharmaceuticals, insurance, and shipping posted solid gains, the carnage in electrical equipment, nonferrous metals, and automobile stocks underscored growing investor anxiety. Adding to the cautious mood, the yen continued to weaken, with the dollar trading in the upper ¥163 range, and newly enacted U.S. tariffs — bringing the combined rate on Japanese goods to 12.5% — cast a long shadow over export-sensitive industries.
Top Gainers
- SHIFT INC (3697): +8.21% — The software testing and IT services specialist led all Nikkei 225 gainers by a wide margin, reflecting renewed appetite for domestic digital transformation plays less exposed to global trade headwinds.
- TOHO CO LTD (9602): +6.48% — The entertainment and cinema group surged, benefiting from continued strength in domestic leisure spending as summer blockbuster season gains momentum.
- BAYCURRENT INC (6532): +4.69% — The management consulting firm extended recent gains, with investors rotating into domestic services names insulated from tariff risk.
- SEVEN & I HOLDINGS (3382): +3.17% — The retail conglomerate advanced as defensive consumer staples attracted buyers amid broader market uncertainty.
- CHUGAI PHARMACEUTICAL (4519): +2.83% / TAKEDA PHARMACEUTICAL (4502): +2.60% — Both major pharma names climbed as the sector emerged as a key safe haven, with pharmaceuticals posting one of the strongest sector averages of the day.
Top Decliners
- DISCO CORPORATION (6146): -12.27% — The precision semiconductor equipment maker suffered the sharpest single-stock loss on the index, a dramatic move suggesting concerns about the outlook for chip capital expenditure cycles.
- SOFTBANK GROUP (9984): -7.06% — The technology investment giant fell sharply, pressured by weakness across global tech assets and lingering sensitivity to U.S. policy shifts affecting its portfolio companies.
- MITSUBISHI MOTOR (7211): -6.75% / RENESAS ELECTRONICS (6723): -6.45% — Both names were caught in the crossfire of the new U.S. tariff regime, which at a combined 12.5% poses a meaningful headwind to Japanese automakers and auto-related chipmakers.
- ADVANTEST (6857): -6.02% — The semiconductor testing equipment maker extended losses alongside peers, reflecting a broad re-rating of chip equipment exposure.
- SUMITOMO METAL MINING (5713): -5.59% / MITSUI KINZOKU (5706): -5.87% — Nonferrous metals names retreated sharply as the sector posted the worst average performance of the day.
Sector Snapshot
The session’s sectoral divide was stark. Mining (+1.73%), Pharmaceuticals (+1.35%), Insurance (+1.22%), and Shipping (+1.21%) led advances, with defensive and domestically oriented industries drawing capital away from cyclicals. The shipping gain was consistent with strength in Nippon Yusen (+2.22%), while food names benefited from steady consumer demand despite ongoing inflationary pressure — reports indicate rice prices have declined for four consecutive weeks, though broader living costs remain elevated heading into summer.
On the losing side, Nonferrous Metals (-3.61%), Rubber (-3.19%), Automobiles (-2.93%), and Electrical Equipment (-2.42%) bore the brunt of tariff anxiety and the global semiconductor correction. Chemicals (-1.87%), Precision Instruments (-1.67%), and Ceramics (-1.68%) also underperformed meaningfully. The breadth of declines across industrial and technology-adjacent sectors signals that investors are recalibrating exposure to export-driven earnings in a higher-tariff environment.
Source: Tokyo Stock Exchange data | Japan Economic News