Japan's Nikkei slumps as Wall Street tech selloff bites

By Rocky Swift

TOKYO, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share gauge slumped on Friday, tracking a tech-led selloff on Wall Street overnight as chip and AI-linked shares came under pressure.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 .N225 fell 1.71% to 61,832.66 in early trading. The broader Topix .TOPX slipped 1.26% to 3,947.11.

The Nasdaq slid 2.6% and the S&P 500 fell 1.21% on Thursday, with technology leading sector declines as investors rotated into defensive areas such as consumer staples and healthcare.

Nvidia NVDA.O sank about 4% in the AI and semiconductor selloff, while Meta META.O dropped 7% after earnings as investors focused on its AI spending, and Tesla TSLA.O fell 3.1% after earnings and a cut to its 2026 capital spending plans.

"Following the selling-dominated tone in the US market, the Japanese market is expected to start today with sellers in control," Monex Securities analyst Yoshitaka Araya said in a report.

There were 96 advancers on the Nikkei 225 against 120 decliners.

The largest losers were Sumco 3436.T, down 8.95%, followed by Disco 6146.T, 7.59% lower, and Mitsui Kinzoku 5706.T, which lost 6.65%.

The largest percentage gainers in the index were Aeon 8267.T, up 3.98%, followed by Sapporo Holdings 2501.T, 3.74% higher, and Kikkoman 2801.T, which gained 3.69%, on track for its highest close since July 2024.