The Nikkei 225 gave back an 800-point intraday gain to close down 0.20% at 66,131.98 on Thursday, while TOPIX edged higher. BOJ Deputy Governor Himino’s call for timely rate hikes lifted banks, semis split on profit-taking, and the TSE short-selling ratio rose to 45.0%.
The Nikkei 225 shook off a weak open to close up 0.62% at 66,262.16, rallying more than 800 points off the morning low. Banks and pharma led, shippers lagged, and the TSE short-selling ratio held at a defensive 42.7% ahead of Nvidia earnings.
The Nikkei 225 lost the 65,000 level in early trade on tech-led spillover, then closed +0.50% at 65,856.43 as afternoon bargain hunting and a SoftBank rebound took over. Short selling ran at 43.1% of TSE turnover and the Nikkei VI rose to 30.41 — defense is still on.
Monday’s session split in two: the Nikkei 225 dropped 0.74% to 65,528 on heavy selling in SoftBank Group and AI-linked names, while the broader TOPIX edged higher with advancers outnumbering decliners. Short selling hit 45.9% of TSE turnover — the top of its recent range — ahead of Nvidia’s upcoming earnings.
The NT ratio — the Nikkei 225 divided by TOPIX — is Tokyo’s cheapest leadership gauge, and it was on display on August 21, 2026, when the Nikkei fell while the broad market rose. Here is how to compute it, why price weighting lets a handful of high-priced stocks like Fast Retailing move the spread, what high and low readings signal about market leadership, and how professionals trade the NT spread with OSE futures.
The Nikkei 225 eased 0.30% to 66,016.36 Friday to cap its worst week in over a month, even as TOPIX edged higher. Shipping stocks soared on Hormuz freight-rate expectations, July CPI kept a September BOJ hike in play, and the TSE short-selling ratio climbed to 42.7% — the top of its recent range.
The Nikkei 225 rose 1.36% to 66,216.79 on Thursday, snapping a multi-session losing streak as automakers led the rebound — Toyota +4.25%, Nissan +6.77% — with July trade data pointing to surging AI-driven semiconductor exports. The TSE short-selling ratio eased to 39.1%, the low end of its recent range, with July national CPI due Friday morning.
Tokyo’s sell-off deepened Wednesday: the Nikkei 225 lost 3.16% to 65,326.42 as SoftBank Group fell 10.3%, super-long JGB yields pushed higher on BOJ rate-hike speculation, and the TSE short-selling ratio held at a defensive 39.0%.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange has no market-wide circuit breaker. Instead, every stock trades inside a fixed daily yen band set by its price tier — about ±17% for a ¥5,000–7,000 stock — while special quotes pause matching and Osaka futures halt for roughly 10 minutes at their limits. Here is how each layer works and how to read a limit-down stock on the tape.
Tokyo’s five-day winning streak ended Tuesday as semiconductor names sold off hard, the 10-year JGB pushed toward 3%, and the yen hovered near 160. The TSE short-selling ratio climbed to 42.6% — the top of its recent range — as positioning turned defensive.