Tokyo stocks retreated sharply on Wednesday as four heavyweight shares pulled the Nikkei 225 down in a broad Asian market selloff. The benchmark closed at 65,683.26, down 617.18 points on the day, after trading as much as 1,100 yen lower during the session.
Advantest, Tokyo Electron, SoftBank Group and Kioxia accounted for roughly 1,000 points of the index's decline, as technology stocks faced selling pressure following a five-day rally on Wall Street that ended with the Nasdaq composite and Philadelphia semiconductor index both falling on Tuesday. The selloff spread across the region, with South Korea's Kospi plunging 4.5 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropping 2 percent, while Shanghai's composite edged higher.
Turnover on the Tokyo Prime Market was heavy, with trading value reaching an estimated 5.28 trillion yen by early afternoon. The decline came despite the Japanese government's cabinet approval on Tuesday to cut the food consumption tax to 1 percent for two years starting April 2027.