Chip Rally Lifts Nikkei to Six-Week High, but Market Breadth Lags

Tokyo, 1 October 2026 – Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed at its highest level in more than six weeks as a stronger semiconductor outlook lifted heavyweight technology shares. The index rose 3.3% to 68,956.72, while the broader Topix gained a more modest 0.57% to 4,131.98. That gap is the clearest signal for investors: the advance was powerful at the index level, but far less uniform across the Japanese market.

The catalyst was a favourable sales outlook from US memory-chip producer Micron, which reinforced expectations of sustained demand for components used in artificial-intelligence infrastructure. Japanese suppliers and equipment makers moved sharply. Lasertec climbed 11.14%, Advantest added 9.78%, Murata Manufacturing rose 8.43% and Kioxia Holdings gained 5.55%. Their moves gave the price-weighted Nikkei an outsized boost, even though the session did not amount to a broad repricing of every sector.