Published on 07/08/2026 at 03:05 am EDT
(Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average closed at a near four-week low on Wednesday, as technology stocks fell after the tech-heavy Nasdaq posted sharp overnight losses.
The benchmark Nikkei fell 2.11% to 66,819.05, its lowest close since June 12. The index fell for a third straight session.
The broader Topix index fell 1.37% to 4,006.43.
The Nasdaq ended sharply lower on Tuesday, dragged by Micron Technology and other chipmakers on heightened concerns about the durability of Wall Street's AI-driven rally. Semiconductor stocks across Asia and the United States also weakened after memory chip giant Samsung Electronics' earnings on Tuesday failed to meet investors' lofty expectations, prompting profit-taking in the sector.
"Investors cannot fully regain their confidence in AI shares," said Daisuke Hashizume, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.
"Samsung Electronics flagged a strong outlook but the market was not convinced that prices would keep rising," he said.
The South Korean benchmark KOSPI on Wednesday dropped more than 20% from its previous record close on June 22, a milestone commonly considered to confirm a bear market.
Shares of chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron fell 3.05%, while chip-testing equipment maker Advantest lost 4.69%.
High-flying Taiyo Yuden, a manufacturer of multi-layer ceramic capacitors to regulate power in AI servers, fell 8%.
Memory maker Kioxia erased early gains to end 0.73% lower.
Phone company KDDI rose 1.04% as investors rotated their target to shares sensitive to domestic demand.
Of more than 1,500 stocks trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's prime market, 36% rose, 61% fell and 2% traded flat.
(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Harikrishnan Nair)

Sumber : Reuters