FX.co ★ Japanese Shares Rise Amid Soft GDP Data

The Nikkei 225 Index climbed 0.4% toward the 69,000 mark on Monday, extending the previous week’s gains. The advance came despite preliminary data showing that Japan’s economy grew less than expected in the second quarter, as soft domestic demand offset solid export performance.

Investor sentiment remained underpinned by robust demand related to artificial intelligence, which continues to bolster the outlook for Japanese firms deeply embedded in the global semiconductor supply chain. Chip and AI-related stocks were mostly higher, with notable gains in Kioxia Holdings (up 2.9%), Advantest (3.9%), Fujikura (3%), Tokyo Electron (1.6%) and Furukawa Electric (4.1%). By contrast, financial and consumer shares largely retreated.

In corporate developments, Nvidia is reportedly preparing to invest as much as $3 billion in SB Energy, a SoftBank Group subsidiary that is building a major data center project in Ohio for OpenAI.