Japan Market Daily | Kabutaro & Friends

On June 26, 2026, the Nikkei 225 snapped a three-day rally to close down 1,608.50 yen at 70,757.84 yen. Following the previous day's surge to a record high, profit-taking and portfolio rebalancing dominated the Tokyo market ahead of the weekend. Overnight losses across major Wall Street indexes further weighed on investor sentiment, triggering a broad sell-off centered on leading semiconductor and AI-related shares that had driven recent gains. In the FX market, the USD/JPY cross hovered in the lower-to-mid 161 yen range, maintaining its persistent weak-yen tone as expectations for a U.S. interest rate cut continued to push back. On the macroeconomic front, Japan's core consumer price index for May, excluding fresh food, rose 2.5 percent from a year earlier, exceeding market forecasts and reinforcing expectations for future interest rate hikes by the Bank of Japan.