Japan's Nikkei falls on Fed rate-hike bets, tech valuation concerns

Japan's Nikkei 225 slid 0.88% to 69,174.97, retreating from a record high hit earlier this week, while the broader Topix slipped 0.67% to 3,963.76. The decline was driven by overnight weakness in U.S. equities, where the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index sank 7.9% on concerns over debt-funded AI spending and tighter financial conditions. Fed rate-hike speculation raised worries about rising financing costs for AI capital expenditure, hurting chip stocks such as Tokyo Electron (down 4.19%) and Disco (down 3.78%), while insurance major T&D Holdings fell 5.74%.