Japan's Nikkei ends lower as Iran war concerns overwhelm AI enthusiasm
EWJ•Biggest gainers and losers in the Nikkei 225
Breadth was nearly even, with 113 advancers on the Nikkei 225 against 110 decliners and two unchanged.
The largest losers were Kyowa Kirin 4151.T, down 5.88%, followed by DeNA 2432.T, 4.65% lower, and Sumitomo Pharma 4506.T, which lost 4.33%.
The largest percentage gainers in the index were Furukawa Electric 5801.T, up 12.63%, followed by Tokai Carbon 5301.T, which rose 9.27% to mark its highest close since October 2018, and Fujikura, which gained 8.07%.
Japanese shares end lower as Middle East tensions weigh
TOKYO, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Japanese share indexes ended in the red on Wednesday as an escalation in the Middle East crisis weighed against a rekindling of enthusiasm about AI-related companies.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index .N225 was up for most of the day, rising as much as 0.8%, before losing steam and ending 0.19% lower at 65,142.78. The broader Topix .TOPX slipped 0.09% to 4,046.64.
Iran said it fired ballistic missiles at a base in Jordan used by the U.S. military and attacked 10 ships on Wednesday, after the U.S. said it had destroyed five Iranian oil tankers.
AI-related shares and cable makers gain on Verizon-Corning deal
News overnight that Verizon VZ.N signed a multi-billion-dollar deal with Corning GLW.N to supply high-density optical fibre for AI infrastructure boosted Japanese cable makers such as Fujikura 5803.T, said Maki Sawada, an equities strategist at Nomura Securities.
"With the situation in the Middle East deteriorating, crude oil prices are rising and concerns over accelerating inflation appear to be weighing on Japanese shares," Sawada said. "On the other hand, semiconductor and AI-related shares are performing strongly."
