Japan's Nikkei ends flat as rising oil prices weigh; SoftBank rebounds
SPY•Banks and Sony decline
Banks fell, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group 8306.T and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group 8316.T down 1.4% and 2.67%, respectively.
Sony Group 6758.T fell 1.66%.
Of the more than 1,500 stocks trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's prime market, 51% rose, 44% fell and 4% traded flat.
Chip stocks and SoftBank move sharply
Shares of chip-related firms Advantest 6857.T and Tokyo Electron 8035.T gave up early gains to fall 2.96% and 0.55%, respectively.
SoftBank 9984.T jumped 7.54%, recovering part of the previous session's 10.7% slide after a selloff in AI-linked stocks triggered by warnings from industry leaders about the technology's risks. Memory chip maker Kioxia 285A.T rose 2.29%.
"Japan was the first market that was hit by the warning from the AI leaders in the previous session," said Kazuaki Shimada, chief strategist at IwaiCosmo Securities.
"The morning after, investors thought it was too early to judge the fate of the pace of AI investments by hyperscalers."
Analysts point to oil prices and profit-taking
"The rise in oil prices as well as higher government bond yields weighed on investor sentiment," said Daisuke Hashizume, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.
