Nikkei Closes Above 70,000 as Chip Stocks Lead Tokyo

Tokyo stocks extended their recovery on Tuesday, October 6, 2026. The Nikkei closes above 70,000 for the first time in three months, finishing at 70,683.98 as investors piled back into artificial intelligence and semiconductor names after another strong session for U.S. technology shares. The broader market joined in, and a weaker yen gave exporters an additional lift.

What happened

The Nikkei 225 gained 737.12 points, or 1.05%, according to Jiji Press. It was the index's first close above 70,000 since July 1. The broader TOPIX rose 38.34 points, or 0.92%, to 4,183.56. The JPX Prime 150 index, which tracks large companies on the Prime section, rose 15.95 points to 1,766.35, a record, according to the Nikkei, the publisher of the benchmark.

Breadth was strong. On the Prime section, 1,153 stocks rose, 349 fell and 50 were unchanged, the Nikkei reported. Turnover came to about ¥7.30 trillion on volume of roughly 2.14 billion shares. Fast Retailing, Tokyo Electron and Fujikura were among the gainers, while SoftBank Group and Kioxia declined.

The day's standout was Advantest, the chip-testing equipment maker. Its shares rose for a sixth straight session to another split-adjusted record, and its market value closed above ¥30 trillion, according to the Nikkei. Electronic-component makers Murata Manufacturing and Taiyo Yuden, cable maker Fujikura and substrate supplier Ibiden also drew buying.

Why it matters

The rally was a direct handoff from Wall Street. The Nikkei reported that Nvidia set fresh record highs in U.S. trading on Monday and that the Nasdaq Composite hit its first record in two weeks. In Asia, Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry, known as Foxconn, reported record revenue for the July-September quarter on Monday, and Taiwan's weighted index set a record for a fourth straight session. That combination reinforced the view that demand for AI hardware remains strong.

"Investors placed fresh buying in stocks related to AI and chips, which had dipped," an official at a domestic asset management company told Jiji. "Their fundamentals are good, positive AI-related news came in, and buying spread." The Nikkei closes above 70,000 on that logic, but the dependence on a narrow group of heavyweights also cuts the other way: Advantest, Tokyo Electron and similar names carry large weightings, so a reversal in U.S. chip stocks can pull the index down quickly.

Domestic policy expectations played a role too. Bank shares, including Mitsubishi UFJ, were firm after Reuters reported that the Bank of Japan is considering signaling that underlying inflation has reached its 2% target, the Nikkei said. According to that report, the central bank sees financial conditions as still accommodative and intends to keep raising rates at short intervals, which supported expectations of wider lending margins for banks.

Currency moves added to the gains. The yen weakened in Tokyo trading, helping exporters such as Toyota. The Nikkei linked part of the yen's slide to the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), which published the agenda of its September 28 management committee meeting on Tuesday. It showed no report on the fund's basic portfolio. Speculation had circulated since the summer that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government might encourage the GPIF to buy more Japanese government bonds to contain long-term yields. The absence of that discussion reduced expectations that a portfolio review would shift money into yen assets, and selling of the yen against the dollar intensified.

The global rate backdrop remains the main risk. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields are near their highest since 2002, and higher global yields have weighed on equity valuations at times this year. Called It has tracked how U.S. technology stocks responded to the soft September jobs report and how Treasury yields reversed after the data, both of which feed into Tokyo's direction.

What's next

The near-term drivers are clear. U.S. third-quarter earnings season begins next week, and results from chipmakers and AI infrastructure suppliers will test whether the enthusiasm that pushed the Nikkei back above 70,000 is justified. In Japan, investors will watch for confirmation of the Bank of Japan's inflation assessment and the timing of its next rate move, as well as any further signal on GPIF's portfolio. A stronger yen would remove one of Tuesday's tailwinds for exporters. For now, the session in which the Nikkei closes above 70,000 marks a return to levels last seen at the start of July, not a new all-time high.