Japan Dark Report: July 2026
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Japan Dark Report is a tool to help the buy side understand and navigate the Japan dark market structure on a per stock basis. The full report highlights dark market data points including dark % of turnover and trends, dark trade sizes, and statistical highlights, amongst others.
Japan's average daily notional traded declined -5.4% versus its trailing three-month average in July. Activity softened alongside a -1.1% pullback in TOPIX, partially retracing the index's strong +5.8% gain over the prior three months. The Nikkei 225 fared worse and fell-8.1% over July, marking its biggest steepest decline since March 2026 — driven by a sharp derating in semiconductor and AI-linked names.
Sector performance was highly dispersed. Outperformance across defensive and income-oriented sectors, including Utilities (+7.7%) and Consumer Discretionary (+8.7%), suggests a rotation away from growth-oriented technology exposure, with Information Technology (-3.2%) and Materials (-0.5%) the laggards in the TOPIX 500.
TOPIX 500 dark activity recovered strongly, rising +17% to 15.7% of total market turnover, its highest level this year. The increase came amid seasonally weaker lit market volumes, lower realized volatility, sharp sector rotation and heightened directional uncertainty.
TOPIX 500’s top-decile dark activity names averaged 25.4% dark turnover. Names supporting the rotation theme:
Utilities led sector-level dark activity growth in July, up 32% MoM. The increase was broad-based, with 80% of constituent names recording meaningful gains in dark participation. Key movers included Hokkaido Elec. 9509.T (+135%), Hokuriku Elec. 9505.T (+88%), Osaka Gas 9532.T (+68%), and Electric Power D 9513.T (+67%).
Kao (4452.T): 24.1% in dark, continuously building momentum for a third straight month, reaching a record high. Trading interest was supported by strong Q1 earnings and analyst upgrades, while July also saw notable stake increases from BlackRock (9.17% to 9.28%) and Nomura AM (5.89% to 6.98%).
Nitori (9843.T): 16.4% in dark, supported by ongoing institutional active buying. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust (6.30% to 7.26%) and Capital Research (5.01% to 6.01%) both increased their holdings, signaling sustained accumulation..
SUMCO (3436.T): 10.2% in dark, down -14% MoM and marking a second consecutive monthly decline. The stock benefited from positive demand sentiment early in the month following Micron's investment in GlobalWafers, but selling pressure later emerged after Fidelity Management & Research reduced its jointly held stake from 5.75% to 4.60%.
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