Seven numbers tell you most of what matters in Japanese equities each day: the Nikkei-TOPIX (NT) ratio, USD/JPY, the TSE short-selling ratio (37-45% over the past week), weekly investor flows, JGB yields, US chip stocks, and three bellwether stocks — here is where each lives and how to read it.
The Nikkei 225 closed just 0.12% lower at 65,606.71 after recovering from a 1,000-point intraday drop driven by chip-related names. Breadth was positive, the short-sell ratio eased to 37.1%, and the yen gave back intervention gains at 158.45.
The Nikkei 225 fell 0.93% to 65,683 as Tokyo Electron and SoftBank dragged, yet 15 of 17 sectors advanced and the TOPIX proxy gained 0.57%. Short selling eased to 39.9% of turnover as money rotated from semis into pharma, foods and autos.
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.
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.
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.