On the 17th, the Nikkei average continued to fall in the Tokyo stock market, closing at the lowest price of the day at 38,911.19 yen, down 269.11 yen (0.69%) from the previous trading day. This is the first time that the Nikkei average has closed below the psychological milestone of 39,000 yen in about a week since the 8th. As the share price of ASML Holding, a Dutch semiconductor manufacturing equipment company, continued to fall sharply in the U.S. stock market on the 16th, semiconductor-related stocks dominated the low prices. On the afternoon of the 17th, Japan time, TSMC, a major foundry semiconductor manufacturer, announced a record high net profit for a single quarter from July to September 2024, exceeding market expectations. After the news was announced, the Nikkei average fell immediately, but the buying momentum did not continue.
Today, semiconductor-related stocks such as East Elec and Adtest have seen a significant sell-off since early trading, pushing down the Nikkei average. ASML lowered its full-year sales forecast for December 2025 on the 15th and held a financial results conference on the 16th. In addition to concerns about slowing demand for semiconductors in China, people have also re-realized the weak demand for consumer electronics such as smartphones and computers. In the U.S. market on the 16th, in addition to ASML, stocks such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment manufacturer Applied Materials (AMAT) fell, and the sell-off affected Japanese semiconductor manufacturing equipment stocks.
TSMC’s financial results for July to September 2024, announced on the 17th, were generally good due to strong sales of cutting-edge semiconductors used to generate AI (artificial intelligence), but many in the market believe that this has been taken into account and the outlook is not optimistic. There is limited action to view the stock as buying material. On the morning of the 17th, relevant Chinese authorities held a press conference to announce additional real estate support measures. However, the sluggish performance of the Chinese stock market is also a burden, and the Shanghai Composite Index temporarily fell due to performance that was lower than expected.
The Nikkei average index started to rise in the morning. In the foreign exchange market, the yen exchange rate hovered around 149 yen to the dollar. Compared with the previous trading day, the yen depreciated and the dollar strengthened. There was a clear fluctuation in the direction. Some stocks related to exports, such as automobiles, were purchased in order to improve export profitability. The U.S. stock market continued the trend of financial stocks’ earnings reports released on the 16th exceeding market expectations. The purchase of bank stocks in the Tokyo market today also supported the overall market.
The Tokyo Stock Price Index (TOPIX) continued to fall. It closed at 2,687.83 points, down 2.83 points (0.11%). The JPX Prime 150 Index also continued to fall, down 4.52 points (0.37%) to 1,203.90.
TSE Prime trading volume is estimated at 3,753.8 billion yen and trading volume is 1,632.2 million shares. The number of TSE Prime stocks that fell was 1026. The number of stocks that rose was 559 and the number of stocks that remained unchanged was 59.
Laser Technology and Disco are cheap. Shin-Etsu Chemical and Fujikura are down. HOYA and TDK are sold. On the other hand, Toyota and Subaru are expensive. SoftBank Group (SBG), MUFG Bank and Kawasaki Motors are up.
