Market Movers

Nikkei 225 — daily market movers

Macro backdrop

Value outran a soft Nikkei. The Nikkei 225 slipped for a fourth straight session, closing −0.17% at 64,214.48 (−111.16 pts) — dragged by Fast Retailing and a weak semiconductor/electricals complex, with extra afternoon selling as Korea's KOSPI softened. But the broader TOPIX rose +0.50% to 4,102.04: value and old-economy names outperformed the growth-heavy Nikkei. The day's standout theme was the general trading houses, which rallied after remarks from Berkshire Hathaway's CEO reaffirmed Buffett's long-term commitment to the sector. The backdrop stayed tense — fresh US air strikes on Iran had knocked the Nikkei down 2.85% the prior session, Brent crude sat elevated near $95 on Strait-of-Hormuz fears, the yen was weak (~160/USD), and markets were positioning for a possible BOJ rate hike at the Sept 17-18 meeting.

Top 10 gainers

  • 1. 9843.T+8.41%
    Nitori Holdings
    Vertically integrated furniture and home-furnishings retailer (SPA model)
    Reported August same-store sales up 4.4%, on top of strong Q1 earnings — a company-specific beat that lifted the shares even though the day's weak yen raises its imported-goods costs.
  • 2. 6302.T+5.09%
    Sumitomo Heavy Industries
    Industrial and construction machinery, precision reducers, semiconductor equipment
    Cyclical machinery name lifted by the day's rotation into old-economy value; no confirmed standalone catalyst.
  • 3. 9503.T+4.24%
    Kansai Electric Power
    Regional electric utility for western Japan, operates nuclear plants
    Defensive utility bid within the value-led TOPIX advance; no company-specific catalyst identified.
  • 4. 6920.T+4.14%
    Lasertec
    Semiconductor photomask and EUV mask inspection equipment
    Bucked the weak semiconductor/electricals group — a rebound in a beaten-down name, likely bargain-hunting rather than a specific catalyst.
  • 5. 8058.T+4.09%
    Mitsubishi Corp
    Diversified general trading house spanning energy, metals, machinery and food
    Trading houses led the market after Berkshire Hathaway's CEO reaffirmed Buffett's long-term commitment to Japan's trading houses; Mitsubishi is a core Berkshire holding.
  • 6. 6305.T+3.72%
    Hitachi Construction Machinery
    Hydraulic excavators and other construction/mining machinery
    Joined the cyclical machinery bid within the old-economy value rotation; no standalone company news identified.
  • 7. 4661.T+3.26%
    Oriental Land
    Operator of Tokyo Disney Resort (theme parks and hotels)
    Domestic-demand, non-tech name bought as money rotated toward value and defensives; no company-specific catalyst.
  • 8. 5631.T+3.21%
    Japan Steel Works
    Steel castings/forgings, industrial machinery and defense (artillery) products
    Strength in the defense/heavy-industry value cluster; no confirmed single-day catalyst.
  • 9. 6473.T+3.17%
    JTEKT
    Automotive parts maker: steering systems and bearings
    Auto-parts value name lifted by the broad old-economy rotation; no standalone news identified.
  • 10. 9502.T+3.13%
    Chubu Electric Power
    Regional electric utility serving central Japan
    Defensive utility bid alongside Kansai Electric as investors favored value over the growth-heavy Nikkei names.

Common Themes

The gainers are an old-economy / value story, and the clearest catalyst is the trading houses: Mitsubishi Corp (and Sumitomo Corp just outside the top 10) rallied after Berkshire Hathaway's CEO reaffirmed Buffett's long-term commitment to the sector. Around them sit a cluster of value cyclicals — heavy machinery (Sumitomo Heavy, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Japan Steel Works, JTEKT) — and two defensive utilities (Kansai, Chubu), all consistent with a session where the broader TOPIX rose while the growth-heavy Nikkei fell. The single biggest gainer is stock-specific: Nitori jumped on an August same-store-sales beat (a genuine positive, even though the weak yen is a cost headwind for it). Lasertec is the odd one out — a semiconductor-equipment rebound that bucked an otherwise weak chip/electricals group, with no clear catalyst.

Top 10 losers

  • 1. 1605.T-4.00%
    INPEX
    Japan's largest oil and natural gas exploration and production company
    Fell even though crude was firm (Brent ~$95) — the drop runs counter to oil and most likely reflects profit-taking after a strong oil-driven run-up; no company-specific news identified.
  • 2. 6841.T-3.75%
    Yokogawa Electric
    Industrial control systems and precision measurement instruments
    Sold off with the weak electricals/precision complex on a day semiconductors and electricals led losses; no standalone catalyst identified.
  • 3. 5801.T-3.70%
    Furukawa Electric
    Electric wire, optical fiber and nonferrous-metal products
    Part of the cable-maker/AI-infrastructure selloff as investors took profits in the data-center cable trade within a weak electricals group.
  • 4. 9983.T-3.41%
    Fast Retailing
    Apparel SPA retailer, owner of Uniqlo and GU
    Uniqlo Japan's August same-store sales fell, sending the shares to roughly a five-month low; as a top-weighted stock it was the single biggest drag on the Nikkei.
  • 5. 2282.T-3.29%
    NH Foods
    Meat processing and packaged-food producer (hams, sausages)
    Weak with no confirmed company-specific catalyst; likely profit-taking/rotation out of defensive food names.
  • 6. 5706.T-3.17%
    Mitsui Kinzoku (Mitsui Mining & Smelting)
    Nonferrous-metal smelting and functional materials
    Metals names extended recent weakness as base-metal sentiment stayed soft.
  • 7. 3099.T-2.93%
    Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings
    Japan's largest department-store operator
    Department stores pulled back with no clear company-specific catalyst — profit-taking in a consumer-soft session, despite a weak yen that should aid inbound spending.
  • 8. 5803.T-2.73%
    Fujikura
    Electric wire and optical fiber, including data-center cabling
    Continued the AI-infrastructure/cable-maker pullback amid the weak semiconductor/electricals group.
  • 9. 5802.T-2.44%
    Sumitomo Electric Industries
    Electric wire, optical products and automotive components
    Third cable maker among the losers — the AI/data-center cable trade was sold across the board.
  • 10. 4062.T-2.40%
    Ibiden
    IC package substrates and electronic components
    IC-substrate maker swept up in the weak semiconductor/electricals complex that led the Nikkei lower.

Common Themes

The losers are led by the semiconductor/electricals complex, which was the day's weakest group. That covers the three big cable makers (Furukawa, Fujikura, Sumitomo Electric), IC-substrate maker Ibiden and precision-instrument maker Yokogawa — all part of a pullback in the AI-infrastructure trade. The heaviest single drag on the Nikkei, though, was Fast Retailing, which fell on weak Uniqlo August sales to about a five-month low. The rest are more idiosyncratic: INPEX dropped even as crude stayed firm (likely profit-taking after an oil-driven run), Mitsui Kinzoku slid with soft base metals, and Isetan Mitsukoshi and NH Foods pulled back without clear company-specific news — consumer/defensive profit-taking rather than a shared catalyst.

Overall read

Value beat growth: the broad TOPIX rose +0.5% while the growth-heavy Nikkei 225 fell for a fourth straight day, dragged by Fast Retailing and a soft semiconductor/electricals complex. Money favored old-economy value — general trading houses (lifted by Berkshire Hathaway's CEO reaffirming Buffett's long-term commitment), heavy machinery and defensive utilities — while the AI-infrastructure/cable and chip names were sold. The macro backdrop was risk-tinged rather than supportive: elevated crude (~$95 Brent) on Strait-of-Hormuz fears after fresh US strikes on Iran, a weak yen near 160/USD, and a BOJ meeting on Sept 17-18 in view. The clearest stock-specific stories were Nitori's August sales beat on the upside and Fast Retailing's soft Uniqlo sales on the downside.

Sources