{"id":40898,"date":"2026-02-04T17:23:48","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T09:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/?p=40898"},"modified":"2026-02-04T17:23:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T09:23:48","slug":"nikkei-retreats-after-record-rally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/analysis\/nikkei-retreats-after-record-rally\/","title":{"rendered":"Nikkei Retreats After Record Rally"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"559\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/indices8-1024x559.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-16992\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key Points<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Nikkei fell <strong>0.78%<\/strong> to <strong>54,293.36<\/strong>, one day after a near <strong>4%<\/strong> record rally<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Software and chip-related stocks led losses despite broader market resilience<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Japan\u2019s Nikkei share average declined on Wednesday, giving back part of the sharp gains recorded in the previous session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The index fell <strong>0.78%<\/strong> to <strong>54,293.36<\/strong>, following a near <strong>4%<\/strong> surge on Tuesday that marked its largest daily gain since <strong>October 25<\/strong> and pushed the benchmark to a record high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Asia-Pacific markets set to fall, tracking Wall Street losses after a tech-led pullback <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hPnd2Srdn4\">https:\/\/t.co\/hPnd2Srdn4<\/a><\/p>&mdash; CNBC (@CNBC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CNBC\/status\/2018841533294809476?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 4, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The pullback reflected a rotation rather than broad-based selling. While headline losses weighed on sentiment, underlying market breadth remained constructive, with <strong>66%<\/strong> of stocks on the Tokyo Stock Exchange\u2019s prime market rising, <strong>30%<\/strong> falling, and <strong>2%<\/strong> unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A cautious forecast suggests that after such a steep rally, consolidation near record levels is likely as traders reassess sector positioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Global Software Selloff Spills Into Japan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Losses were concentrated in software and system development shares, which tracked a sharp selloff among global peers overnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The weakness followed declines across US and European data analytics, professional services, and software firms, with some traders pointing to concerns triggered by a recently updated artificial intelligence chatbot from Anthropic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">In December, OpenAI made headlines when it listed a job for a \u201chead of preparedness\u201d with a base pay range of as much as $555,000 a year. <br><br>Now, CEO Sam Altman has announced that the role has been filled \u2014 by a staffer from rival Anthropic. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SZRuHEPuXN\">https:\/\/t.co\/SZRuHEPuXN<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Bloomberg (@business) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/business\/status\/2018924512859836894?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 4, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Major Japanese names reacted sharply. <strong>NEC<\/strong> plunged <strong>11.79%<\/strong>, while <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/simplywall.st\/stocks\/jp\/software\/tse-4307\/nomura-research-institute-shares\/news\/analysts-are-updating-their-nomura-research-institute-ltd-ts-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Nomura Research Institute<\/a><\/strong> and <strong>Fujitsu<\/strong> each lost more than <strong>7%<\/strong>. Analysts noted that domestic software firms had previously lagged global declines and were now catching up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shuutarou Yasuda of Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory said local stocks were finally hit by a wave that had already moved through overseas markets, highlighting how delayed reactions can amplify volatility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Technical Analysis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>Nikkei 225<\/strong> extended gains to <strong>54,529.76<\/strong>, climbing <strong>+396.00 points (+0.73%)<\/strong> in intraday trade. Momentum picked up after finding early support near <strong>54,409.76<\/strong>, followed by a strong upside breakout that peaked at <strong>54,657.76<\/strong> before easing slightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/image-3-1024x474.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-40899\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The rally was led by a clean alignment of moving averages, with MA5 and MA10 crossing above MA20 during the 10:00\u201310:10 spike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, after the high, profit-taking emerged, dragging price back toward the MA cluster. Current support appears to be holding near <strong>54,525<\/strong>, just below the short-term average lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the price consolidates above <strong>54,500<\/strong>, bulls could reattempt the <strong>54,657\u201354,678<\/strong> resistance zone. A break below <strong>54,500<\/strong> would risk a slide toward <strong>54,389<\/strong> and erode intraday bullish structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Volume has tapered slightly, suggesting traders are watching for the next catalyst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Learn more about trading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/indices\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Indices<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/trade-now\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">VT Markets<\/a> today.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nikkei slips after a record surge as global software weakness drags on Japanese developers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":16992,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[11,30],"class_list":["post-40898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","tag-indices","tag-nikkei"],"acf":{"acf_article_selection_author":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}