Lasertec Drop and Household Spending Data Weigh on Nikkei as It Extends Losses

2026-08-07

Nikkei Briefly Falls Over 1,000 Points

In Tokyo stock market trading on the morning of the 7th, the Nikkei Stock Average extended losses, closing the morning session down 644.10 points, or 0.98%, from the previous day at 65,039.16. In addition to declines in SoftBank Group, selling spread to semiconductor-related stocks such as Lasertec, Advantest and Tokyo Electron, dragging the index lower. At one point, the decline exceeded 1,000 points.

Earnings Outlook Weighs

Lasertec fell more than 10% at one point after its consolidated net profit forecast for the fiscal year ending June 2027, announced on the 6th, came in at 90 billion yen, up 16% from the previous year but below the market forecast of 96.8 billion yen. Fujifilm Holdings, whose consolidated net profit for the April-June 2026 quarter fell 30% from a year earlier, dropped as much as 18%, while SoftBank Group, which posted a decline in consolidated earnings for the same period, fell more than 6% at one point.

Spending Data Also Weighs

The Nikkei opened higher, but lost momentum as it approached the 25-day moving average, seen as a gauge of the short-term trend, around 66,000 yen. Hideyuki Suzuki, head of investment information at SBI Securities, said the 25-day moving average was viewed as resistance and sparked stronger profit-taking on rebounds. Household spending for June, released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on the 7th, stood at 290,886 yen per household for households with two or more people, down 3.3% in real terms from a year earlier, excluding the effect of price changes, marking the seventh straight month of decline. The figure also missed the median market forecast for a 1.0% increase, prompting selling on concerns that weak consumer spending would weigh on corporate earnings. The Tokyo Stock Price Index, or TOPIX, extended gains, ending the morning session up 4.83 points, or 0.12%, at 4,060.68. The JPX Prime 150 Index also rose for a second session, up 3.50 points, or 0.21%, at 1,700.93. Trading value on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime market at the morning close was estimated at 5.3764 trillion yen, with volume at 1.31496 billion shares. Advancing issues totaled 931, or nearly 60% of the market, while 585 declined and 37 were unchanged. Murata Manufacturing, Taiyo Yuden, Fujikura and Furukawa Electric fell, while Bandai Namco Holdings, Konami Group and Nintendo stood out on the upside.

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