[Nikkei Recap] Sept 9, 2026: Nikkei Falls 126 Points to 65,142 as Resource Stocks Fade Late

Hey everyone, Hirokichi here. Let’s look back at the Tokyo stock market on Wednesday, September 9, 2026. The Nikkei 225 closed down 126.55 points (-0.19%) at 65,142.78. The morning started with selling following the previous day’s U.S. stock decline, but resource-related stocks got a lift from rising oil prices and briefly pushed the index into positive territory. Momentum faded again in the afternoon session, though, and the index ended the day lower for a second straight session. Let’s dig into why the market moved this way, along with a few stocks that caught traders’ attention.

How the indexes moved today

What this table shows is that both the Nikkei and TOPIX fell by a similarly small margin (around 0.1-0.2%), so there wasn’t much divergence between the two. As for the TSE Growth Market 250 index, the data provider hadn’t caught up with the final close at the time of writing (mid-afternoon Japan time), so I’ll update that figure once it’s confirmed.

The market opened at 65,087.22 (down 182.11) on the back of the previous day’s U.S. stock weakness (more on that below). Once the initial selling ran its course, buying flowed into oil and resource-related names as crude prices climbed, and the index briefly turned positive by the mid-morning session. Right after the afternoon session opened, it even touched 65,537.28 (up 267.95). But the gains didn’t hold – the index slipped back into negative territory during the afternoon and stayed soft into the close. Compared with the previous day’s close of 65,269, this marks a second straight day of declines.

Trading volume on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market came in at 2.300029 billion shares, with turnover of 9.2303 trillion yen. Advancing issues made up 38.6% versus 59.2% declining – more stocks fell than rose, suggesting the market hasn’t fully shaken off its cautious mood. By sector, non-ferrous metals, oil & coal products, and mining led the gainers, while securities/commodity futures, services, and retail were among the biggest decliners.

Why did the market move this way? The key drivers

I’d break today’s back-and-forth session down into three main factors.

(1) The previous day’s U.S. stock decline and renewed inflation worries: On September 8, the Dow Jones fell 628.18 points to 52,786.07, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 85.58 points to 26,421.41. Escalating tit-for-tat strikes involving Iran pushed oil prices higher, stoking fears of renewed inflation and triggering selling. Tokyo inherited that cautious mood at the open.

(2) Oil-driven buying in resource and energy names: Middle East tensions aren’t purely negative for markets – they also push oil prices up. Higher crude and resource prices tend to improve the outlook for oil refiners and resource companies, which is exactly why non-ferrous metals, oil & coal products, and mining led the sector gainers today.

(3) Growing expectations that the Bank of Japan will speed up rate hikes: Reports suggest the BOJ is leaning toward raising its policy rate to 1.25% at its September 17-18 policy meeting. A faster pace of rate hikes tends to weigh more heavily on growth stocks and high-P/E names (P/E, or price-to-earnings ratio, measures how expensive a stock is relative to its profits), which likely contributed to the afternoon fade. On the technical side, the Nikkei continues to trade below its 25-day and 75-day moving averages, and that level is being watched as resistance.

Stocks that caught attention today, and why

As the table shows, the exact closing prices and percentage changes for individual names weren’t available from data providers at the time of writing (a known issue with mid-afternoon Japan-time reporting), so I’ve marked those as “Pending.” That said, the direction each stock moved and the news behind it are already confirmed, so let’s go through each one.

SoftBank Group (9984): AI-related buying keeps rolling in

SoftBank Group was again among today’s gainers. The stock has had a remarkable run this past week – up 11.78% on September 4, 11.22% on September 7, and 5.45% on September 8. The driving force has been AI-related news flow: gains in its Arm holdings and reports of new AI model launches have both fueled buying by association. For reference, around midday (12:46 p.m.) the stock touched 6,805 yen, up 249 yen (+3.80%) – not the closing price, but a sign of how strong the intraday momentum was. The reason this rally keeps going is that the market still places a high premium on AI-related investment stories, so buying tends to pour in whenever fresh news hits the wires.

Furukawa Electric (5801) and Fujikura (5803): Cable makers ride the resource-sector wave

Wire and cable makers Furukawa Electric and Fujikura also ranked among today’s most actively traded gainers. With non-ferrous metals leading the sector rankings, buying flowed into cable makers whose costs are closely tied to metals like copper. There’s also a structural story here: global demand for cables and power infrastructure tied to data centers is on the rise. In other words, the AI investment boom isn’t just lifting semiconductor names – it’s spilling over into the power and wiring infrastructure that supports them, and that’s part of why these two names are drawing attention.

Idemitsu Kosan (5019): Higher oil prices lift the margin outlook

Oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan was another gainer today. With crude oil futures staying elevated amid escalating strikes involving Iran, expectations have grown that refiners’ sales margins will improve. As for why the move has some size to it, the market widely believes oil prices will stay elevated as long as geopolitical risk persists, which tends to attract short-term trading flows into names like this one.

Kioxia Holdings (285A): Profit-taking after a sharp run-up

Semiconductor memory maker Kioxia Holdings was among today’s decliners. The stock has surged in recent sessions on the back of strength in U.S. memory-related names, so today’s pullback likely reflects profit-taking after that run. On top of that, the broader semiconductor sector was exposed to selling tied to BOJ rate-hike expectations weighing on high-P/E names, and stocks that rallied the fastest tend to give back the most when sentiment turns cautious – which helps explain the size of today’s move.

Advantest (6857): Rate-hike expectations pressure high-P/E names

Semiconductor test equipment maker Advantest was another decliner. Semiconductor-related stocks tend to trade at high valuations (P/E ratios) on the back of strong earnings expectations, and when reports of faster BOJ rate hikes surface, growth stocks pricing in future profits tend to get sold first. Given that the decline coincided with the broader market’s afternoon fade, it’s likely that this rate-hike narrative was a meaningful weight on the stock.

How should individual investors read today’s move?

On days like today, where the market rises and then falls back, it’s easy to get shaken up if you’re just watching the price tick by tick. If you’re steadily continuing regular investments, a single day’s up-and-down like this really isn’t worth worrying about – a 0.19% move from the previous close is well within the range of noise when you’re thinking about long-term asset building. That said, if you’re trading individual stocks short-term, it’s worth keeping the new BOJ rate-hike narrative in mind. High-P/E growth stocks and semiconductor names, in particular, tend to react quickly to interest rate headlines, so it might be worth managing position sizes a bit more carefully than usual for now.

What to watch going forward

(1) The BOJ’s policy meeting on September 17-18: Reports point to a policy rate hike to 1.25%, but the actual decision and Governor Ueda’s comments at the press conference afterward will likely shape the market’s direction from here.

(2) Middle East tensions and their effect on oil prices: If the tit-for-tat strikes involving Iran continue, we could see a situation where higher oil prices help resource stocks but hurt other sectors through rising import costs.

(3) The direction of U.S. stocks: Whether the previous day’s U.S. selloff continues or reverses will likely shape how Tokyo opens tomorrow. Tech and semiconductor stock moves in particular are worth watching closely.

Let’s keep at it, slow and steady. See you tomorrow!

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* 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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