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genai/news//MarketScreener
The Nikkei 225 broke through 67,000 points for the first time in its history.
On June 1, SoftBank became Japan's largest market cap, overtaking Toyota after 20 years.
KEY POINTS
SoftBank's gain contributed 845 points to the Nikkei, exceeding the index's daily net gain.
The Nikkei's surge is driven predominantly by a few AI and semiconductor-related stocks.
Despite Nikkei's record high, only 70 out of 225 stocks rose, with the Topix actually declining.
SoftBank announced a €75bn investment in French data centers, reinforcing its global AI ambitions.
On June 1, the Nikkei 225 broke through 67,000 points for the first time in its history, before falling back a bit and closing at 66,934.33 points. This milestone crowns a spectacular performance of +33% since the beginning of the year.
Source: MarketScreener
The session was primarily marked by the surge of SoftBank, which jumped 14% and alone contributed 845 points to the Nikkei's advance - more than the index's net gain for the day.
SoftBank dethrones Toyota
SoftBank has thus become Japan's largest market capitalization, overtaking Toyota Motors, which had dominated the market for over 20 years. Following the June 1st session, SoftBank's market cap reached approximately JPY 48,800bn (around USD 305bn), compared to JPY 45,900bn (around USD 287bn) for Toyota.
Source: FactSet
This shift is highly symbolic. For decades, the Japanese stock market was personified by the automotive industry, manufacturing, and major exporters. Now, it is a technology holding company with exposure to AI, Arm, OpenAI, and digital infrastructure.
SoftBank notably benefited from its exposure to Arm, the British chip designer in which it still holds a large stake, and its massive commitment to artificial intelligence infrastructure. The group announced a €75bn investment project in data centers in France, a signal that has reinforced its status as a global AI proxy.
The Nikkei is not truly "the Japanese market"
To understand the scale of the movement, one must look at the index's mechanics. The Nikkei comprises 225 stocks listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Prime Market, but it is price-weighted rather than market-cap-weighted.
This technical detail changes everything. Unlike the broader, market-cap-weighted Topix, the Nikkei is influenced by a few stocks with very high nominal prices, often concentrated in technology.
The Nikkei therefore does not always reflect the entire Japanese market; it primarily reflects the health of its major contributors. And currently, those contributors are focused solely on AI.
A narrower rally than it seems
This is where the comparison becomes interesting. On June 1st, the Nikkei gained 0.9%, but the Topix fell by 0.4%. During that session, only 70 of the 225 Nikkei stocks were up, while 155 declined.
The index's record high gives the impression of a euphoric Japanese market, but the rise is far from widespread. It rests on a handful of stocks linked to AI, semiconductors, and technological infrastructure.
From traditional industry to AI
SoftBank is not alone. Tokyo Electron, Advantest, Murata Manufacturing, and stocks related to semiconductor equipment and materials are also benefiting from the global AI rush. By providing a portion of the equipment, components, and materials essential for chip production, Japan occupies a strategic position.
For a long time, the Japanese market was defined by the 1980s bubble, with an index that took over 30 years to return to its peaks. However, in 2026, the Nikkei is hitting successive records and establishing itself as one of the major AI proxies.
This shift shows that investors no longer view Tokyo merely as an opportunity linked to yen weakness. Buying the Nikkei today is an exposure to the global technological bet.
Since then, the momentum has continued. On June 3rd, the Nikkei closed at its highs, at 68,524.43 points.