The Nikkei index sank to 38,496.66 in afternoon trade before bouncing back to sit 2.91 per cent lower.
The broader Topix shed 3.14 per cent, or 85.66 points, to 2,641.14.
Iwai Cosmo Securities told AFP on Monday that, “falls in US high-tech shares including chip giant Nvidia, and the yen’s rise against the dollar” were spooking investors.
The yen advanced to 146.60 per dollar.
Among the biggest losers were SoftBank Group, which fell 6.91 per cent, while chip-testing equipment maker Advantest gave up 6.13 per cent and Mizuho Financial Group dropped 5.60 per cent.
Japanese semiconductor stocks have risen sharply in recent months on the back of bullish expectations for growth in demand for chips used for artificial intelligence technologies.
Last week the Nikkei broke 40,000 for the first time, having in February broken the record set just before Japan’s asset bubble burst in the early 1990s.
AFP
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