TOKYO, Aug 25, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - Tokyo stocks ended sharply lower Friday, 
dragged down by overnight falls of New York tech shares after artificial 
intelligence star Nvidia quickly lost steam.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index plunged 2.05 percent, or 662.93 points, to end 
at 31,624.28, while the broader Topix index lost 0.88 percent, or 20.19 
points, to 2,266.40. 

The dollar fetched 146.04 yen, compared with 145.80 yen seen in New York 
Thursday.

Stellar earnings by Nvidia, the major supplier of processors for AI, 
initially boosted sentiment regarding the wider tech sector, but gains 
quickly evaporated on the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

"Nvidia's stock is almost back to its pre-earnings report levels and the 
broader market much weaker," Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at National 
Australia Bank, wrote.
 
As such, the AI darling's descent prompted widespread sell-offs among major 
high-tech shares and semiconductor-linked stocks in Tokyo, according to 
IwaiCosmo Securities. 

"The falls kept widening as the session progressed and pushed the market into 
negative territory" throughout the day, the brokerage said. 

Among major shares in Tokyo, SoftBank Group plunged 3.05 percent to 6,573 
yen, Sony Group lost 1.29 percent to 11,860 yen and Toyota was down 0.20 
percent to 2,395 yen.
 
Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing tumbled 3.03 percent to 32,570 yen.