TradingKey - Japanese stocks hit by 'Black Friday' as Nikkei 225 drops over 4%, Kioxia plummets to trigger limit down, and SoftBank plunges 9%.

During the Asian trading session on July 17, the Japanese stock market suffered a brutal wave of panic selling. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index plummeted more than 2,700 points intraday, down over 5%, before narrowing its decline to end 4.03% lower at 64,141.07, hitting a one-month low.

Nikkei 225 Index chart, Source: TradingView

Adding to the pain, Kioxia plummeted another 16% intraday to hit its limit-down threshold, closing at 52,110 yen to touch its lowest level since May 21. Notably, following successive sharp declines, Kioxia saw its market capitalization halved in just one month, falling out of the top three largest companies in Japan by market value. SoftBank was not spared either, with its shares sliding 9.01% to close at 5,424 yen, also marking a two-month low.

The 'Black Friday' sell-off in Japanese equities, characterized by an extreme retreat in momentum and valuation correction, remains driven by the combined impact of AI bubble skepticism and renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Until market concerns over the second-half recovery of consumer electronics and the monetization of AI profits are cleared, the Nikkei 225 is highly likely to pull back toward the 60,000 mark in the short term.

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