Nikkei 225 Rises 1.08% on Oct 28, 2026 as SK Hynix Lifts Chip Stocks

Key takeaways

• The Nikkei 225 rose 685.82 points, or 1.08%, to 63,954.19 on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, its second straight gain, according to Jiji Press and Yahoo Finance data.
• The broader TOPIX slipped 5.66 points, or 0.14%, to 3,991.71, Jiji Press reported, as falling stocks outnumbered gainers and the rally stayed concentrated in chip names.
• SK Hynix's third-quarter results lifted Tokyo chip stocks: Kioxia closed up 13.76% at ¥14,340, Tokyo Electron up 4.42% and Advantest up 3.16%, per Yahoo Finance.
• Canon fell 6.00% to ¥4,610 after trimming its full-year operating profit forecast, and Konami Group dropped 6.37% to ¥22,940, according to Yahoo Finance.
• USD/JPY was 157.87 at the Tokyo close, up 0.04%, per Yahoo Finance, while the 10-year Japanese government bond (JGB) yield rose to 2.819%, according to Investing.com.

Session recap

Tokyo's headline index extended its rebound on Wednesday, but most stocks fell. The Nikkei 225 opened at 63,738.98, traded between 63,660.30 and 64,308.71, and closed at 63,954.19, according to Yahoo Finance data. For the wider region, see Asian and global markets today; for Tuesday's session, when the Nikkei jumped 1.73% on Anthropic's IPO filing, see our October 27 Japan daily brief. The table compares Wednesday's close with Tuesday's close of 63,268.37 (Nikkei) and 3,997.37 (TOPIX).

USD/JPY figures are Yahoo Finance 15-minute quotes at the Tokyo equity close; Jiji Press's 5 p.m. Tokyo forex quote showed the dollar at 157.78-80 yen. The 10-year yield is Investing.com's daily reading for the Tokyo session, which now shows Tuesday's close at 2.795%; Trading Economics, which uses a different feed, showed 2.832% on Wednesday.

What drove it

SK Hynix results spark a memory-chip rally

The main catalyst came from Seoul. SK Hynix reported third-quarter operating profit of 83.3 trillion won, more than seven times the year-earlier level, and said it plans to return about 100 trillion won to shareholders through dividends and buybacks, IBTimes reported. The company also said it expects memory demand to exceed supply through 2030. South Korea's KOSPI jumped 6.6% to reclaim 6,000, according to the same report. Our story on the KOSPI rally after SK Hynix's record profit covers the results in detail.

In Tokyo, buying concentrated in semiconductor-related shares, BigGo Finance reported. Kioxia, a Japanese maker of NAND flash memory, was the Nikkei's top performer, rising 13.76% to ¥14,340, per Yahoo Finance and TradingKey. Advantest, Tokyo Electron and SoftBank Group were the largest positive contributors to the index, according to BigGo. Nomura strategist Maki Sawada said investors were rewarding "increased profitability at AI-related companies," IBTimes reported.

Narrow breadth: Nikkei up, TOPIX down

The gain was carried by a handful of heavily weighted technology shares. Among Nikkei components, 139 fell and 85 rose, IBTimes reported. Because the Nikkei 225 is price-weighted, expensive chip stocks can lift it even when most of the market falls, while the market-value-weighted TOPIX reflects the broader decline; see our explainer on the difference between the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX. Insurance, food and oil and coal products were the weakest sectors, while glass and ceramics, electric appliances and nonferrous metals led, according to BigGo.

Canon and Konami weigh

Canon fell 6.00% to ¥4,610, per Yahoo Finance, after cutting its full-year outlook. The company trimmed its operating profit forecast to ¥456 billion, citing shortages of printed circuit boards and other components linked to AI hardware demand, Finimize reported, and said the constraints would reduce medical-business sales by about ¥90 billion this year. Konami Group fell 6.37% to ¥22,940 and was among the largest drags on the Nikkei, according to BigGo; the cause of its decline has not been confirmed in the reports reviewed for this brief.

Yen, bonds and oil

Currency moves were not a major driver, BigGo reported, with the dollar trading around 157.90-158.00 yen in the afternoon. USD/JPY ended the Tokyo session at 157.87, per Yahoo Finance. The 10-year JGB yield rose to 2.819%, according to Investing.com. Trading Economics said the yield climbed above 2.8% from multi-month lows as investors stepped back from safe-haven bonds amid growing optimism about AI. Brent crude rose more than 1% amid Middle East tensions, IBTimes reported. Japan imports most of its oil, so higher crude prices feed into its trade balance and inflation.

Political & policy watch

Fed and BoJ decisions back to back

The US Federal Reserve announces its decision on Wednesday afternoon in Washington, early Thursday in Tokyo, at the end of its October 27–28 meeting, according to the Fed's calendar. Markets broadly expect a hold, IBTimes reported. The Bank of Japan's two-day meeting begins on Thursday, with a decision and Outlook Report on Friday, October 30, according to the BoJ schedule. The BoJ is widely expected to keep its key rate at 1.25% while signalling openness to further hikes, IBTimes reported; Trading Economics said officials may point to a possible December move as inflation stays persistent. BigGo said investors were wary of chasing gains before the Fed, European Central Bank and BoJ announcements.

Yen intervention warnings

Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said this week the government was ready to take decisive action against excessive currency moves, IBTimes reported. A weaker yen generally supports exporters' earnings in yen terms but raises import costs, which is why official comments on the currency are closely watched in Tokyo.

What to watch next

• October 28 (US time): Federal Reserve policy decision at the end of the October 27–28 meeting, per the Fed's calendar.
• October 28 after the US close: Quarterly results from Alphabet and Microsoft, according to Investing.com; Amazon and Meta also report this week, IBTimes said.
• October 29: European Central Bank rate announcement, per BigGo.
• October 29–30: Bank of Japan Monetary Policy Meeting; decision and quarterly Outlook Report on October 30, per the BoJ.
• December 17–18: Next BoJ meeting.

Risk checklist for readers

• Index versus market. On Wednesday the Nikkei rose while the TOPIX fell and most Nikkei components declined; check breadth before reading a headline gain as a broad rally.
• Overseas earnings spill over. Results from a foreign company such as SK Hynix can move an entire Tokyo sector in one session, and such moves can reverse quickly.
• Central bank week. The Fed and the BoJ decide within about two days of each other; yields, the yen and stocks can swing sharply around announcements.
• Company guidance. Forecast revisions, like Canon's, can move a stock more than the quarterly numbers themselves.
• Currency risk. For investors outside Japan, returns depend on USD/JPY as well as share prices, and official warnings can trigger sudden yen moves.
• Check primary data. JPX, Nikkei Inc., the Ministry of Finance and the BoJ publish official figures; data feeds can differ, as the 10-year yield readings above show.

This article is for information only and is not investment advice.