Japan Stocks Plunge Over 2% After Alphabet's AI Spending Hike Sparks Global Worries

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Summary · why it matters

The Nikkei 225 index fell more than 2% in Friday trading, after Alphabet, the parent company of Google, tumbled sharply on its announcement of increased artificial intelligence investment and negative free cash flow, sparking investor concerns worldwide about the payoff of AI spending. As of Friday morning local time, the Nikkei 225 had dropped 2.69% to 64,634.04 points, while the TOPIX index declined 1.28% to 4,002.09 points. Since the start of the month, the Nikkei has fallen over 7% and entered correction territory, influenced by weakness in global technology stocks, particularly South Korea's KOSPI and the US Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Semiconductor shares faced heavy selling, with Advantest plunging 6.33% and Tokyo Electron falling 5.43%, while SoftBank Group tumbled 7.42% and Kioxia dropped 4.4%. However, stocks tied to domestic demand bucked the trend, with Central Japan Railway rising 1.17% and East Japan Railway gaining 0.6%, while Otsuka Holdings climbed 1.6%, becoming the top gainer on the Nikkei during morning trading.

Impact on assets 8

Semiconductors▼
Advantest Corp.
6857
▼ NegativeDemandrelevance

Advantest plunged 6.33% as semiconductor shares sold off on global AI spending concerns.

Tokyo Electron Ltd.
8035
▼ NegativeDemandrelevance

Tokyo Electron fell 5.43% amid heavy selling in semiconductor shares due to AI spending worries.

Artificial Intelligence▼
Alphabet Inc Class C
GOOG
▼ NegativeCapitalrelevance

Alphabet announced increased AI spending and negative free cash flow, causing its stock to tumble.

SoftBank Group Corp.
9984
▼ NegativeDemandrelevance

SoftBank Group fell 7.42% as global tech sell-off on AI spending concerns hit its holdings.

Biotech & Genomic Medicine▲
Smart City / Autonomous Infrastructure▲
Industrials▲