Reuters

Nikkei Crosses 59,000 for First Time on Software Rally; Gains Shrink on Profit Taking

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
The Tokyo Stock Exchange

Reuters

16:40 JST, February 26, 2026

TOKYO, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei share average surpassed the 59,000 mark for the first time on Thursday, led by software-related shares as investor fears over disruption from artificial intelligence eased.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index .N225 rose 0.3% to close at 58,753.39, an all-time closing high, after rising as high as 59,332.43 in earlier trade. So far, the Nikkei is up 16.4% for the year. The broader Topix .TOPX climbed 1% to 3,880.34.

The Nikkei index lost some steam over the course of the session as markets digested the chipmaker Nvidia’s NVDA.O results, analysts said.

“Since it was widely expected that NVIDIA would post strong results, and it did, this has prompted some profit-taking for the moment,” said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.

The Nikkei’s 14-day relative strength index (RSI) was slightly above the 70-mark that indicates gains have stretched too far and are poised to reverse.

Software-related shares surged, with software test service firm Shift 3697.T jumping 14.4% to become the largest percentage gainer on the Nikkei, marking its biggest rise since July 2024. IT service firms NEC Corp 6701.T rallied 9.4% and Fujitsu 6702.T advanced 6%.

The banking sector was among the best performers in the Tokyo bourse’s 33 industry groupings, after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda flagged a chance of an early rate hike in a newspaper interview. Japan’s third-largest lender Mizuho Financial Group 8411.T rose 5.1% while its rival Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group 8306.T added 3.3%.

On the flip side, chip-testing equipment maker Advantest 6857.Tslipped 1.7% and chipmaking equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron 8035.Tlost 2%. The two companies dragged the Nikkei index by about 128 and 90 points, respectively.

The largest losers in percentage terms on the Nikkei index were electronic component maker Taiyo Yuden 6976.T down 4.7%, followed by wire and cable manufacturer Sumitomo Electric Industries 5802.T which fell 4.4% and department store Takashimaya 8233.T, which shed 4.4%.

There were 143 advancers on the Nikkei index against 76 decliners.