Nikkei and Kospi Decline Amid Tech Sell-Off; Advantest and SoftBank Lead Losses

Asian markets decline amid tech sell-off, with the Nikkei 225 falling 1.2% and South Korea's Kospi dropping 1.4%. Advantest and SoftBank lead losses, with Advantest down 9.1% and SoftBank falling 6.3%. The decline follows a tech sell-off in US markets, with NVIDIA's stock dropping 3.3% after a disappointing earnings report. Korean traders are shifting from US tech giants like Tesla to more volatile investments.

Asian markets experienced a significant downturn on Monday, July 2, 2025, as tech stocks led the decline. The Nikkei 225 index closed down 1.2% at 42,188.79 points, while South Korea's Kospi fell 1.4% to 3,142.93 points [3]. The Nikkei hit a three-week low during trading, influenced by a tech sell-off in the U.S. markets. The index fell over 2% at one point, reaching 41,849.82 points, its lowest since August 8 [1].

Significant losses came from two major stocks: Advantest, a chip testing equipment maker and NVIDIA supplier, dropped 9.1%, contributing 280 points to the decline. SoftBank Group, an investor in AI startups, fell 6.3%, accounting for 202 points of the drop [3]. The decline follows a tech sell-off in U.S. markets, with NVIDIA's stock dropping 3.3% after a disappointing earnings report [2].

In South Korea, retail investors are losing confidence in Tesla (TSLA, Financial) as interest shifts towards more volatile investments like Bitmine Immersion Technologies Inc., seen as a proxy for Ethereum. This shift resulted in a net inflow of $253 million into Bitmine, indicating waning enthusiasm among Tesla's once-loyal retail investors. Korean traders, traditionally drawn to U.S. tech giants like Tesla, are now reallocating their funds [3].

The broader Topix TOPIX, by contrast, declined a more muted 0.39% [1]. Yunosuke Ikeda, head of macro research at Nomura, commented, "This seems to me like an exaggerated reaction to Friday's New York market, which was basically a rebalancing of portfolios at month-end by selling all the stocks that outperformed in August, primarily the big tech names" [1].

The U.S. markets are closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday, but the impact of Friday's sell-off was evident in Asian markets. Other chip shares leading the Nikkei lower in the latest session included Disco 6146, off 7.7%, Socionext 6526, down 6.3%, and Furukawa Electric 5801, down 5.5% [1].

References:
[1] https://www.tradingview.com/news/reuters.com,2025:newsml_L1N3UO053:0-japan-tech-shares-drag-nikkei-to-3-week-low-as-advantest-tumbles/
[2] https://www.benzinga.com/markets/equities/25/08/47431856/consumer-tech-news-august-25-august-30-nvidia-shines-but-stocks-wobble-on-hotter-core-pce-ai-bets-accelerate-evs-face-headwinds
[3] https://www.gurufocus.com/news/3088647/asian-markets-decline-amid-tech-selloff-softbank-and-advantest-lead-losses