Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average Ends Lower as SoftBank Group Tracks Oracle’s Declines (UPDATE 1)　

Reuters

12:19 JST, December 11, 2025 (updated at 16:53 JST)

TOKYO, Dec 11 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei share average fell on Thursday, with SoftBank Group leading declines as it tracked a sharp fall in Oracle after the U.S. tech giant missed Wall Street forecasts.

The Nikkei .N225 closed 0.9% lower at 50,148.82, after rising as much as 0.5% earlier in the session.

The broader Topix .TOPX fell 0.94% to 3,357.24, after opening at a record high of 3,410.97.

SoftBank Group 9984.T tanked 7.69% to track Oracle’s ORCL.N more than 11% decline in extended trading after the company’s sales and profit forecast missed Wall Street expectations.

Earlier this year, SoftBank Group, along with Oracle and OpenAI, announced plans to develop artificial intelligence data centers in the U.S to build out their ambitious Stargate project.

“The Nikkei opened higher to track overnight Wall Street’s rises, but the gains were erased by declines of SoftBank Group,” Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory market analyst Shuutarou Yasuda said.

“The earnings of Oracle raised concerns if the data center project, in which SoftBank Group is involved, would proceed as expected,” he said.

Overnight, Wall Street ended higher, after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points as expected and investors bet on further easing down the road, even as the U.S. central bank signaled that it will put further cuts on pause for now. .N

In Japan, other technology stocks fell, with chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron 8035.T slipping 1.57%. Silicon wafer maker Shin-Etsu Chemical 4063.T declined 3.94% and a robot maker Fanuc 6954.T lost 2.19%.

Bank shares gave up their early gains to fall, with Mizuho Financial Group 8411.T and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group 8316.T slipping 1.14% and 0.39%, respectively.

Bucking the trend, chip-testing equipment maker Advantest 6857.T jumped 4.42%.

Trading house Mitsui & Co 8031.T jumped 4.85% to become the Nikkei’s top percentage gainer.

Of the more than 1,600 shares trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s prime market, 12% rose, 84% fell, and 2% traded flat.