Published on 02/05/2026 at 01:55 am EST
(MT Newswires) -- Japanese shares closed lower on Thursday, tracking most U.S.markets, as worries over rising costs tied to artificial intelligence spending prompted investors to cut exposure to technology stocks, while a renewed drop in silver intensified pressure on leveraged positions.
The Nikkei 225 fell 0.88%, or 475.32 points, to close at 53,818.04.
Alphabet reported solid results on Wednesday but flagged capital spending of 175 billion yen to 185 billion yen for the year, well above forecasts.
Investors have been trimming exposure to big technology stocks in favor of defensive names such as Walmart on concern that artificial intelligence will disrupt jobs. The selloff, sparked by a new legal tool from Anthropic's Claude model, has erased about 830 billion yen in market value since Jan. 28.
On the corporate front, Axial Retailing) rose 2% after the company said January net sales at all stores rose 5.5% on the year, while existing-store sales gained 5.2%.
ExaWizards shares ended 6$ higher after the company said its wholly owned unit ExaMD has filed a clinical trial notification in Japan for an artificial intelligence-based software tool to support cognitive function diagnosis.
Renesas Electronics shares jumped 6% after U.S.-based SiTime agreed to acquire its timing business for about 468 billion yen. The deal, expected to close by the end of 2026 pending approvals, is set to generate a one-off gain of about 234 billion yen, with the two companies also studying technical cooperation.

Sumber : MT Newswires