Nikkei Records Strongest Weekly Gain in Five Months

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index advanced 0.53% to close at 61,142 on Friday, bringing its weekly gain to 6.46% and marking its strongest weekly performance since June. The rally was supported by a recovery in technology stocks following an AI-driven selloff the previous week, when a Democratic sweep in the US midterm elections raised concerns over potentially stricter AI regulations. Meanwhile, investors continued to assess the broader implications of Nvidia’s leadership transition for the artificial intelligence sector after CEO Jensen Huang stepped down following reports of extramarital affairs, with CFO Colette Kress taking over as interim CEO. Market attention also turned to Anthropic’s highly anticipated IPO next week, which has reportedly attracted orders equivalent to approximately six times the shares available, underscoring strong investor demand for the AI company. Among the notable performers on Friday were Advantest (2.1%), Tokyo Electron (1.7%) and Recruit Holdings (5.1%).