Japan's Nikkei drops as Middle East conflict, mixed earnings weigh

NEC

30/04/2026 03:38

By Satoshi Sugiyama

TOKYO, April 30 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average fell on Thursday as a deadlock in U.S.-Iran peace negotiations and mixed corporate earnings kept investors on the sidelines, overshadowing stellar artificial intelligence-driven results from major U.S. tech companies.

The Nikkei 225 Index .N225 was down 0.8% at 59,427.56, ahead of a midday recess. The broader Topix .TOPX slid 1.4% to 3,719.52.

"Amid concerns over the situation in the Middle East and with earnings reports set to be released soon, the market is in a wait-and-see mood," said Naoki Fujiwara, senior fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management.

     "Since this falls between holiday periods, buying interest is not especially strong, and because price levels remain high, profit-taking is emerging."

Oil prices extended gains on Thursday after rising more than 6% in the previous session on supply concerns as talks to end the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran have deadlocked.

AI-related shares on the Tokyo bourse were mostly lower, even after Alphabet  topped Wall Street estimates for quarterly revenue as enterprise spending on AI delivered the best quarter of reported growth for its cloud unit yet.

Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest was down 3.1% and chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron traded nearly 1% lower.

IT services firm Fujitsu 6702.T was the biggest daily percentage loser, plummeting as much as 15.2% in its biggest drop in 11 years after its earnings outlook missed analysts' expectations.

Shares of Oriental Land 4661.T lost 8.6% after the Tokyo Disney Resort operator said it would see a decline in operating profit for this year due to increased labour costs and repair expenses. Telecom and IT solutions provider NEC 6701.T shed 6.7%.

Bucking the overall trend, TDK shares rose to a record high after the electronic components maker forecast a 15% increase in net profit for the current business year, above analysts' estimates.

Sumco 3436.T, a leading silicon wafer supplier for semiconductors, jumped 15.1% and Renesas Electronics  6723.T, a microcontroller and automotive chips maker, advanced roughly 10%.

 (Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

 ((Satoshi.Sugiyama@thomsonreuters.com;))