Tokyo snapped a two-day winning streak on Friday: the Nikkei 225 fell 0.94% to 68,309.46 as SoftBank Group dropped 5.8% and semiconductor names gave back part of the week’s surge. The TSE short-selling ratio hit 41.1% — the defensive tone in positioning persists.
The Nikkei 225 surged 3.30% to 68,956.72 on a ferocious semiconductor rally after Micron’s record earnings, but the advance was strikingly narrow: the TOPIX proxy added just 0.67%, banks fell hard, and the TSE short-selling ratio printed 38.8%.
The Nikkei 225 closed Wednesday at 66,753.72, up 1.94%, led by SoftBank Group’s 6.6% surge and a broad bank rally, while the TSE short-selling ratio eased to 40.4% — the softer end of its recent range.
For a September 30 record date under Japan’s T+2 settlement, the last day to buy with dividend rights is September 28 and the ex-dividend day (kenri-ochi) is September 29 — the morning thousands of stocks open lower at once and the Nikkei 225 carries a calculable dividend drag that has nothing to do with sentiment. Here is how to count the dates, estimate the drop, and avoid misreading it.
The Nikkei 225 fell 0.60% for a second straight loss as rising global yields and oil pressed on breadth — only one of 17 sectors advanced — while SCREEN and Disco rallied hard and Tokyo Electron gained ground. The TSE short-sell ratio held elevated at 43.1% into fiscal half-year-end ex-dividend week.
The Nikkei 225 gave back an opening pop to close down 0.73% at 65,877.62 on Monday as the yen strengthened on BOJ rate-hike speculation, Nidec collapsed 17.6%, and TSE short selling climbed to 44.3% of turnover — the top of its recent range.
Roughly two-thirds of listed Japanese companies close their books on March 31 and report in four clustered kessan waves, typically publishing on TDnet around the 15:30 cash close. The number that moves the stock is usually the company’s own full-year guidance — and its mid-year revisions — not the reported quarter.
The Nikkei 225 closed Friday at 66,364.20, up 1.30% for a fifth consecutive advance, with banks and semiconductor names doing the heavy lifting while SoftBank Group lagged. The TSE short-sell ratio eased to 40.0% and the yen held near 158 per dollar.
Tokyo returned from an extended holiday with a two-speed tape: the Nikkei 225 rose 0.76% on semiconductor strength while the TOPIX proxy slipped, ex-dividend mechanics weighed on high-yield names, and USD/JPY at 158.40 kept intervention watchers busy. The TSE short-sell ratio held mid-range at 41.0%.
U.S. CPI lands at 21:30 JST (22:30 in winter), midway through Osaka’s 17:00–6:00 night session for Nikkei 225 futures. The night-session close is the key overnight anchor for where Tokyo’s 9:00 cash open will print — refined by the live futures level once Osaka’s day session resumes at 8:45. Here is the full transmission chain, release clock, and how to read the gap.