Why it matters
- Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 3,643.13 points, or 5.96%, to 57,434.77 on Friday, Nov. 6, Yahoo Finance data show. In 10 years of daily data, only three days were worse, most recently Monday, April 7, 2025.
- The index closed 20.6% below its record close of 72,366.34 on Thursday, June 25, past the 20% decline commonly used to define a bear market, by Global Terminal's calculation.
- Unlike South Korea's Kospi, the Nikkei rarely falls this hard. It was only its second daily drop of 5% or more in 205 sessions this year, Yahoo data show.
Analysis: this piece includes our interpretation of the facts reported.
Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 5.96% to 57,434.77 on Friday, Nov. 6, its worst day since April 2025, Yahoo Finance data show. The close left the index 20.6% below its June 25 record close of 72,366.34, past the 20% line commonly used to mark a bear market, by Global Terminal's calculation.
Asian chip and tech stocks followed Thursday's U.S. rout. CNBC said investors worried about the returns on heavy data center spending and that Democrats' strong midterm showing could bring tighter limits on data center development, slowing demand for AI chips. It said SoftBank Group fell 10.83% and Kioxia 8.72%. "The market's tendency is always to shoot first and ask questions later," Timothy Moe, chief Asia Pacific equity strategist at Goldman Sachs, told CNBC.
How bad was Friday for Japanese stocks?
It was one of the worst days in a decade. In 10 years of Yahoo daily closes, only three sessions saw bigger drops: Monday, Aug. 5, 2024 (-12.40%), Monday, April 7, 2025 (-7.83%) and Friday, March 13, 2020 (-6.08%).
The fall was deeper during the session. The Nikkei dropped as much as 7.1% to 56,745.81 and fell below 60,000 for the first time since May, Investing.com reported. It said the broader Topix fell as much as 6.4%, its steepest drop since April 2025.
Is the Nikkei in a bear market?
On a closing basis, yes. A bear market is commonly defined as a 20% fall from a peak. Friday's close is 20.6% below the June 25 record close, Yahoo data show. Measured from the June 22 intraday record of 72,831.73, Investing.com put the session low 22.1% below the peak.
| Measure | Nikkei 225 |
|---|---|
| Nov. 6 close | 57,434.77 |
| Change on Nov. 6 | -5.96% |
| Record close | 72,366.34 (June 25, 2026) |
| Below record close | -20.6% |
| Change since Oct. 29 close of 64,659.47 | -11.2% |
| Change in 2026 | +14.1% |
| Days down 5% or more in 2026 | 2 of 205 |
Source: Yahoo Finance daily closes for the Nikkei 225 (^N225). Changes are Global Terminal calculations; the 2026 change is measured from the Dec. 30, 2025 close of 50,339.48.
How does this compare with the Kospi?
Japan's market has been far calmer. Before Friday, the Nikkei's only fall of 5% or more this year was on Monday, March 9 (-5.20%). South Korea's Kospi had 22 such days through Nov. 5, Global Terminal calculated from Yahoo data. The Nikkei is still up 14.1% this year after the slide, and the yen held near 158.35 per dollar on Friday afternoon, Yahoo data show.
Track the Nikkei and the yen on our world markets page. For the rest of the chip rout, see the chip index's 38% slide from its peak and Kospi's 22nd fall of 5% or more this year.
Sources
- Yahoo Finance, chart data for the Nikkei 225 (^N225) and USD/JPY (JPY=X)
- CNBC, Nasdaq sell-off batters Asian chip stocks as SK Hynix, Samsung, Softbank, TSMC tumble (Nov. 6, 2026)
- Investing.com via Yahoo Finance, Japan's Nikkei enters bear market as AI rout sends chip shares into sharp retreat (Nov. 6, 2026)