Japan’s Nikkei bounces off 6-month low as chip shares rally

TOKYO, March 10 – Japan’s Nikkei share average rebounded in choppy trade on Monday as major semiconductor-related shares tracked U.S. peers’ gains and investors snapped up deals after last week’s heavy losses, although quickly changing tariff policies limited the index’s rise.

The Nikkei briefly slid to its lowest intraday level since September 18 at 36,705.02, but reversed early losses to rise0.6% at 37,095.85 by the midday break.

The broader Topix was up 0.2% at 2,714.54.

The Nikkei’s bounce followed its third consecutive week of declines, with the benchmark shedding just over 2% on Friday.

Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest, up 2.7%, offered the biggest lift as Japan’s chip-related stocks got a boost from last week’s gains in U.S. technology shares.

The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index surged 3.2% to outperform on Friday amid Wall Street gains, with U.S. stocks rebounding from early declines after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the economy was “in a good place.”

However, global uncertainty continued to weigh on sentiment. In a Fox News interview broadcast on Sunday, President Donald Trump declined to rule out the possibility of a recession in the world’s largest economy amid stock market concerns about his tariff actions on Mexico, Canada and China over fentanyl, adding to investors’ unease.

U.S. stock futures were down during Asian trade, potentially weighing on the Nikkei, while tariff concerns were creating some turbulence in the market, said Nomura Securities strategist Maki Sawada.

“Overall caution towards Trump’s tariff policies and retaliatory levies is acting as a drag,” contributing to the dip in early trade, she said.

Lasertec, which makes inspection equipment used in chip-making, jumped 6.5% to become the biggest percentage winner on the Nikkei, followed by industrial automation system maker SMC Corp gaining nearly 6%.

Among other shares, AI-focused startup investor SoftBank Group was up 2.1%, chip-making equipment giant Tokyo Electron rose 1.8%, and chip-testing equipment manufacturer Disco Corp rallied 4.9%.

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