Hey everyone, Hirokichi here.
Tokyo stocks rebounded on July 23. The Nikkei 225 closed at 66,422.60, up 307.00 points (0.46%) from the previous day, while the TOPIX gained 20.75 points to 4,053.88 (Source: Nikkei). Semiconductor and AI-related names led the way after Alphabet, Google’s parent company, raised its capital spending plans. Tonight’s U.S. session brings another wave of earnings, plus Middle East tensions and long-term interest rates to watch.
- Nikkei climbs 307 points to rebound at 66,422
- Advantest leads the charge as Alphabet’s bigger capex plan lifts AI names
- Yen holds near 163 as Middle East tensions and BOJ rate-hike talk pull in opposite directions
- Tonight’s U.S. market: a quiet overnight session, now watching earnings and jobless claims
- Wrap-up: Hirokichi’s take
Nikkei climbs 307 points to rebound at 66,422
The Nikkei 225 held firm through the session and finished at 66,422.60, up 307.00 points (0.46%) from the previous day (Source: Nikkei). The TOPIX also advanced, closing at 4,053.88, up 20.75 points.
The mood had been more cautious the day before (July 22), with investors waiting on big U.S. tech earnings. But the picture shifted on the 23rd. A three-day winning streak in the U.S. SOX index (the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which tracks major chip stocks) also helped fuel buying in Japan’s chip-related stocks.
Advantest leads the charge as Alphabet’s bigger capex plan lifts AI names
Today’s standout was Advantest (6857), a leading chip-testing equipment maker. According to Zaikei Shimbun, Advantest alone added roughly 307 points to the Nikkei – essentially accounting for the entire day’s gain by itself (Source: Zaikei Shimbun).
The driver behind this was Alphabet, Google’s parent, raising its fiscal 2026 capital expenditure (capex, or spending on equipment and infrastructure) guidance to as much as $205 billion (roughly 33.4 trillion yen). Strong cloud revenue growth added to the optimism, and buying spread to AI-infrastructure-related names including Tokyo Electron (8035), SoftBank Group (9984), Lasertec (6920), Murata Manufacturing (6981), Kioxia Holdings, Disco (6146), and TDK (6762) (Source: Nikkei).
What I found interesting is that Alphabet’s own stock actually slipped in after-hours trading following the announcement, since some investors worry that heavier capex could weigh on future margins. Reactions to the same news were mixed, but for Japan’s chip suppliers, the message came through as “AI investment is real,” and that’s what moved the market here.
Yen holds near 163 as Middle East tensions and BOJ rate-hike talk pull in opposite directions
In the currency market, USD/JPY traded in a narrow range around the low-163 level. Safe-haven dollar buying tied to rising Middle East tensions supported the dollar, while reports that the Bank of Japan (BOJ, Japan’s central bank) is open to speeding up its pace of rate hikes brought in yen buying at times, pushing the pair briefly down to around 162.65 (Source: OANDA Japan). It was a tug-of-war session without a clear direction, though the broader weak-yen trend doesn’t look broken yet.
Tonight’s U.S. market: a quiet overnight session, now watching earnings and jobless claims
Overnight (July 22), U.S. stocks closed slightly lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 6.06 points to 52,218.58, and the S&P 500 fell 10.24 points to 7,498.96 – both essentially flat (Source: OANDA Japan). Caution ahead of big tech earnings, rising oil prices tied to Middle East tensions, and higher long-term Treasury yields all weighed on sentiment.
Tonight (the 23rd), weekly initial jobless claims are due at 9:30 PM Japan time. The prior reading was 215,000, and the market consensus is 218,000 (Source: Yahoo Finance Japan / Traders Web). How resilient the labor market looks could also influence rate-cut expectations.
Earnings season keeps rolling too. After the close, Intel headlines a broad list of major companies reporting, including T-Mobile, Lockheed Martin, Nasdaq Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific, Honeywell, and Comcast (Source: Kabutan). With chip stocks back in focus, Intel’s numbers in particular are worth watching.
Wrap-up: Hirokichi’s take
What stood out to me today is how the AI capex story is starting to move the whole market, sometimes independent of how any single company’s earnings actually land. Alphabet’s own stock wobbled, yet its spending plan was enough to lift Japan’s semiconductor names – that felt like a good example of the theme at work.
Meanwhile, the currency market is caught between Middle East risk and BOJ rate-hike speculation, so I’d expect some choppy moves there for a while. Tonight’s earnings rush and the jobless claims data could set the tone for Japanese stocks tomorrow, so I’ll be keeping an eye on both.
Also check out last time’s recap: “Nikkei Rebounds 2,091 Yen to 66,232, Snapping Three-Day Slide – Tonight’s Focus: Alphabet Earnings and Fed Watch [2026/7/21]”.
日本語版はこちら → https://hirokichiiii.com/デイトレ/jp-us-market-20260723/
* This article is for informational purposes only and does not recommend any specific investment. Please make investment decisions at your own responsibility.
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