Mumbai, July 17 -- Japanese stocks fell sharply on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 dropping 4.03% and the Topix declining 2.72%, as both indexes closed at their lowest levels in more than a month.

The decline was driven by a global selloff in semiconductor stocks, with investors becoming increasingly concerned about high AI-related spending and expensive valuations. Market sentiment was also hurt by rising tensions between the US and Iran, which pushed oil prices higher and raised worries about inflation and interest rates.

Technology and AI-related stocks led the losses, with major names such as Kioxia Holdings, Tokyo Electron, SoftBank Group, Advantest, and Taiyo Yuden posting steep declines. For the week, the Nikkei 225 fell 6.4%, while ...