The Nikkei 225 jumped 2,342.91 points to 66,300.44 on Wednesday as an overnight surge in US chip names lit up Tokyo’s AI complex. SoftBank Group soared 13.96%, Advantest 8.77%. The TSE short-selling ratio eased to 41.8% — still defensive, but the least so in three sessions.
SQ (Special Quotation) is the settlement price for Nikkei 225 futures and options, computed from the opening auction prints of all 225 constituents on the second Friday of each contract month. Quarterly ‘major SQ’ Fridays — March, June, September, December — produce some of the largest opening volume prints of the year, and much of that turnover reflects settlement-related hedging rather than fresh directional views. Here is how the mechanics work and how to read the numbers.
The Nikkei 225 closed at 63,957.53, down 0.63%, while the TOPIX proxy edged higher — a split tape as semiconductor-equipment and heavy-industry names surged against weakness in banks, exporters and index heavyweights. Short selling stayed elevated at 45.3% of TSE turnover.
The Nikkei 225 fell 0.94% to 63,754.90 on Monday as a confirmed joint Japan-US yen-buying intervention sent the dollar down 2.12% to 156.79, pressuring exporters. Fanuc cratered 14% on heavy volume, the TSE short-selling ratio held at an elevated 45.4%, and the Nikkei VI jumped to a stressed 35.50.
Japan’s ‘core CPI’ strips out only fresh food — not energy — and it is the series the Bank of Japan’s 2% target is judged against. Here is how to read headline vs core vs core-core, why Tokyo CPI leads the national print by a month, and how each release feeds through to JGB yields, the yen, and equity sectors.
The Nikkei 225 jumped 4.03% to 64,362.02 on a narrow, semiconductor-led rebound while the BOJ held rates at 1.0% with one dissent and USD/JPY closed at 160.28 amid intervention talk. The TSE short-sell ratio hit 43.8% — defensive positioning even into strength.
The Nikkei 225 rose 0.71% to 61,867.43 on a chip-led rally after Advantest’s guidance hike, but TOPIX fell 0.53% with only 3 of 17 sectors higher. Short selling ran 37.1% of TSE turnover, the Nikkei VI sits at a stressed 39.79, and the BOJ decides Friday.
The Nikkei 225 dropped 1.49% to 61,434 on a semiconductor sell-off sparked by SK Hynix earnings, yet 12 of 17 sectors advanced and Toyota jumped 7.2%. Short-selling eased to 33.6% of turnover ahead of Friday’s BOJ decision.
Japan’s Ministry of Finance decides currency intervention and the Bank of Japan merely executes it, funded from the Foreign Exchange Fund Special Account. Traders track a three-step escalation — scripted verbal warnings, rate checks, then actual yen-buying — and confirm operations after the fact through MOF’s monthly disclosures and BoJ current-account projections. Here is the full mechanism.
The Nikkei 225 fell 3.95% to 62,364.92 on Tuesday, its lowest close since May 21, as semiconductor names dropped double digits. Yet the short-selling ratio of 35.2% sat below its recent average, retail and auto stocks rallied, and the BOJ decision looms Friday.