Nikkei Dives 2,400 Points to Slip below 50,000 in Morning

Tokyo, Nov. 5 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average tumbled about 2,400 points to end below 50,000 Wednesday morning, dragged down by heavy selling of chip-related stocks following a weak overnight performance of Wall Street. The Nikkei stood at 49,104.05 at the end of the morning session on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, down 2,393.15 points, or 4.64 pct, from Tuesday. It lost some 2,420 points just before the morning close. The broader TOPIX index slid 107.58 points, or 3.25 pct, to 3,202.56. Chip-related and other technology names faced strong selling pressure, tracking declines of U.S. high-tech issues Tuesday amid growing investor caution over the recent sharp gains in artificial intelligence-related names. Particularly, technology investor SoftBank Group and chipmaking equipment manufacturer Advantest, which have led the Tokyo market’s recent upward march, posted steep declines to push down the Nikkei by about 1.300 points. The Tokyo market succumbed to hefty selling “because chip and AI stocks in both Japan and the United States are deemed overvalued after surging in a short period,” an official of a major securities firm said. By contrast, companies with rosy earnings results attracted purchases, market sources said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]