Japan Stocks Lose ¥82 Trillion in 3 Weeks: AI Chip Rout or Healthy Correction?

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.92% to 67,242 after a sharp selloff in Korean and Japanese AI-chip stocks, fueling claims that the market lost ¥82 trillion in three weeks. The article argues the move looks more like a sector rotation and correction than a full market crash: the index is down 7.7% from its June 22 record high, while the broader Topix fell just 0.2% as banks rallied. Heavy losses in Kioxia, Murata, Renesas, and Yaskawa weighed on the index, but the Nikkei held its key 66,500–68,000 support zone. Rising oil prices and concern over Japanese corporate earnings added pressure. Bitcoin was relatively resilient, slipping only 1.5%, suggesting limited spillover into crypto despite earlier episodes where Japan equity weakness hit BTC harder.