Thanks to chip companies, the Nikkei index hits a new peak

Japan’s Nikkei index rose to a record level on Wednesday, supported by gains achieved by shares of major companies linked to electronic chips, which offset losses in the financial sector and other value stocks.

The Nikkei index rose 1.25% to 65,811.78 points by 01:47 GMT, after jumping by about 2.2% earlier in the session to record its highest record level ever during trading at 66,428.81 points. The broader Topix index rose 0.15% to 3,944.19 points.

“Investors’ money is concentrated in stocks of chip-related companies that are witnessing a bullish boom. Investors have ignored value stocks because there is no incentive to buy them at a time when technology stocks are generating strong returns,” said Kazuaki Shimada, senior analyst at Iwai Cosmo Securities.

Shares of Tokyo Electron and Advantest rose more than 5% each.

On the other hand, shares of SoftBank Group fell by 4.3% and shares of Socionext by 5.8%, becoming the biggest losers in the Nikkei index.