Japan: Shares Drop as AI Concerns Persist.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index dropped 0.8% to close at 62,189 on Monday, entering its third straight week of declines as concerns over the sustainability of massive artificial intelligence spending weighed on sentiment. Investors are now looking to earnings reports from major technology companies this week for further insight into the outlook for AI-related stocks. Meanwhile, markets are preparing for upcoming monetary policy decisions, with central banks in the US, Japan and the Eurozone widely expected to maintain current interest rates before potentially raising them later this year. On the geopolitical front, investors remained wary of the possibility of renewed US strikes against Iran following next week’s midterm elections, alongside potential retaliation from Tehran against US allies in the region. Japanese technology stocks remained under pressure, with sharp losses from Kioxia Holdings (1.6%), Advantest (3.9%), Disco Corp (1.8%), Tokyo Electron (3.7%) and Ibiden Co (3.1%).