Japan’s Nikkei Sheds Early Gains as Chip Stocks Weigh (Update 1)

Reuters

12:25 JST, May 9, 2024 (updated at 16:45 JST)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei shed early gains to end lower on Thursday, pulled down by lackluster performances in chip-related stocks, as Tokyo Electron tracked a slump in Arm Holdings after the British chip designer missed market expectations for annual revenue.

The Nikkei ended 0.34% lower to close at 38,073.98, after rising as much as 0.5% earlier in the session.

“Declines in Arm shares drove a sell-off of Tokyo Electron and other chip-related stocks,” said Shuji Hosoi, senior strategist, Daiwa Securities.

Arm Holdings gave a full-year revenue forecast that missed expectations, sending its Frankfurt-listed shares down 10% on Thursday.

Shares of Tokyo Electron, a Japanese chip-making equipment maker, slipped nearly 3% to become the biggest drag on the Nikkei.

Technology investor SoftBank Group, which owns around 90% stake in Arm Holdings, also dropped about 3%.

“There were no other major market-moving cues today. Most stocks rose,” said Daiwa’s Hosoi.

The broader Topix edged up 0.26% at 2,713.46. Of more than 1,600 stocks on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s prime section, 1,081 shares rose, while 519 fell.

Topix’s value share index rose 0.5%, outperforming the growth stocks index, which was flat as the market turned cautions over rate hikes at an earlier stage.

Board members at the Bank of Japan turned overwhelmingly hawkish at their April policy meeting, with many calling for the need to raise rates steadily, a summary of opinions at the meeting showed.

“The summary was more hawkish than the Governor (Kazuo) Ueda sounded after the policy meeting last month,” said Shuutarou Yasuda, a market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory.

Japan’s 10-year government bond yield rose as high as 0.91%, its highest since April 26.

Higher yields could hurt growth stocks such as chip-related and other technology companies, whose appeal lies in future cash flows.

Among gainers, Kawasaki Heavy Industries surged 14.3% to become the top gainer on the Nikkei. Shares of motorcycle maker Yamaha Corp jumped 9.3%.