Published on 08/03/2026 at 02:50 am EDT
(Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average fell on Monday from a one-week high in the previous session, pressured by a rapid appreciation in the yen after Tokyo and Washington confirmed they had carried out a rare joint currency intervention late last week.
The Nikkei fell nearly 1% to close at 63,754.90, while the broader Topix lost 1.1% to 3,960.03. Of the Nikkei's 225 components, 169 fell versus 52 that rose and four that ended flat.
The yen gained as much as 1.4% to a nearly three-month high of 155.20 per U.S. dollar, adding to a 3.8% surge over the previous two sessions. A stronger yen reduces the value of overseas revenue for Japan's many heavyweight exporters.
"The joint currency intervention is the biggest focus for stocks today," weighing broadly on the market, said Wataru Akiyama, an equities strategist at Nomura Securities.
Japan and the United States conducted coordinated yen-buying intervention and will not hesitate to take further action, Japan's finance ministry said. The yen had been hovering around a 40-year trough against the dollar late last month.
The Nikkei jumped more than 4% on Friday and touched its highest level since July 24, powered by a rally in technology stocks after Microsoft's strong forecasts allayed fears about the industry's massive AI spending.
Still, multiple Japanese chip-linked heavyweights declined on Monday, with Tokyo Electron down 0.9% and Advantest slipping 3.3%.
Automakers were among the biggest laggards, with Toyota dropping 3.4% and Suzuki down 6.7%.
Among the notable winners were AI-focused startup investor SoftBank Group, which recouped early losses to climb 2.5%, and Lasertec, which climbed nearly 8%.
Shares of Kioxia rallied 5.7% after the memory chipmaker floated a buyback plan, and chipmaker Renesas soared 13.5% on the back of its financial results.
(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

Sumber : Reuters