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.
As of August 25, 2026, Japan’s 10-year JGB yielded 2.897% and the 40-year 4.060% — prices set through Ministry of Finance auctions, roughly 20 primary dealers, and Bank of Japan operations. Here is how the world’s most-watched sovereign bond market actually works, how to read the curve, and why equity investors abroad track it daily.
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.
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.
The Nikkei 225 rose 1.16% to 68,308.59 on Thursday as semiconductor names rallied and banks repriced for a possible near-term BOJ hike. The yen held near 159.39, JGB yields pushed higher across the curve, and the TSE short-selling ratio came in at 41.8%.
The Nikkei 225 closed at 67,524.06 (+0.83%) on Wednesday with banks and semiconductor-equipment names leading, the yen soft at 159.36, and the TSE short-sell ratio at 40.3% — while the Nikkei Volatility Index jumped seven points ahead of Friday’s options SQ.
The BOJ’s Outlook (Tenbo) Report, published at the January, April, July and October policy meetings, moves markets through three channels: revisions to the median core-CPI forecast, the risk-balance language, and named board dissents. Here is how to read each one — and why the forecast table often matters more than the rate decision itself.