The Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.9% to below 54,000 on Thursday, pulling back from record highs and tracking losses on Wall Street overnight, as technology stocks came under pressure. Late on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation imposing a 25% tariff on certain AI chips on national security grounds, hurting sentiment in the tech sector. Japanese tech stocks followed their US peers lower, with notable losses from Advantest (-3.2%), SoftBank Group (-3.9%), Disco Corp (-3.7%), Tokyo Eletron (-3.5%) and Lasertec (-1.7%). In corporate news, the Toyota group raised its offer to privatize Toyota Industries Corp. by 15% to 18,800 yen per share, but investors demand an even higher premium. Meanwhile, Honda Motor announced plans to ramp up production of cheaper gasoline-fueled vehicles this year.
