TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share average slumped to a three-week low on Monday as chip-sector stocks tumbled, taking cues from a technology-led sell-off on Wall Street on Friday.
The Nikkei fell 1.24 percent to 42,188.79 as of the close of trading, and earlier dropped more than 2 percent to the lowest since August 8.
The bulk of the Nikkei’s 530-index point slide was accounted for by drops in two heavyweight stocks: chip-testing equipment maker and Nvidia supplier Advantest plunged 7.9 percent, or 244 points, while artificial intelligence-focused start-up investor SoftBank Group dropped 4.8 percent, or 155 points.
The broader Topix, by contrast, declined a more muted 0.39 percent.
“This seems to me like an exaggerated reaction to Friday’s New York market, which was basically a rebalancing of portfolios at month-end by selling all the stocks that outperformed in August”, primarily the big tech names, said Yunosuke Ikeda, head of macro research at Nomura.
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