FX.co ★ Japanese Shares Struggle as Tech Stocks Weigh

The Nikkei 225 inched up 0.2% to climb above 65,100 on Thursday, while the broader Topix slipped 0.4% to 3,902, as Japanese equities struggled to sustain recent gains amid weakness in technology shares. Sentiment was further weighed by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East following reports of fresh US strikes on Iran, and by stalled peace talks that kept worries over inflation and potential interest rate hikes in focus.

Domestically, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda earlier this week warned of rising inflationary pressures stemming from higher oil prices, though he stopped short of signaling whether the central bank might raise interest rates at its next policy meeting.

Technology stocks led the decline, with notable losses in SoftBank Group (-3.7%), Fujikura (-1.8%), Tokyo Electron (-1.5%), Advantest (-1.4%), and Lasertec (-2.1%).