Japan's Nikkei gauge trims 2025 surge as techs take a breather

TOKYO, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share gauge edged lower on Tuesday, with the technology sector, which helped drive banner gains in equities this year, dragging the index.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index .N225 slid 0.1% to 50,465.35, as of the midday break, while the broader Topix .TOPX was also down 0.1%.

On the final trading day of 2025 in Japan, the Nikkei is poised for a 26% annual jump, a third consecutive yearly gain and the most since 2023. The Topix is set for a 23% advance.

Wall Street's main indexes ended lower overnight, as tech stocks retreated from last week's rally that pushed the S&P 500 to record highs.

The drop in U.S. equities and a slump by domestic artificial intelligence heavyweight SoftBank Group 9984.T were the main factors dragging Japanese shares lower, said Nomura Securities strategist Wataru Akiyama.

"Rather than a fading of expectations around AI, it appears to be driven by end-of-year adjustment selling amid thin trading," Akiyama said. "So we are not overly concerned, given how much share prices have risen this year."

SoftBank slid 1%, and was the biggest drag on the Nikkei, after the company announced it would buy digital infrastructure investor DigitalBridge Group DBRG.N in a deal valued at $4 billion. SoftBank shares surged 93% in 2025.

There were 92 advancers on the Nikkei against 126 decliners. The largest gainers in the index were Fujitsu 6702.T up 1.9%, followed by Sumitomo Pharma 4506.T, which gained 1.5%.

The largest losers were Sumitomo Metal Mining 5713.T, down 3.6%, followed by online retailer Rakuten Group 4755.T, which slid 2.1%.