TOKYO: Japanese shares rose 1.43 percent by noon Wednesday as investor sentiment was lifted by overnight gains on Wall Street following strong earnings from chipmaker Intel, analysts said.
The Nikkei index added 134.61 points to 9,575.64 by the break. The Topix index of all first section shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 0.91 percent or 7.52 points to 835.08. Investors, who were shaken at the start of the week by renewed eurozone debt concerns and Standard & Poor's cut to its outlook on US debt ratings, were given a brighter lead from robust US and European economic data and upbeat earnings. "I think US debt concerns,
US currency weakness and the potential inflationary impact are situations that are going to continue to overhang financial markets," said Shaw Stockbroking Head of Trading Jamie Spiteri in Sydney. "But I believe markets have been absorbing some of those concerns prior to the immediate impact that was realised (Tuesday)," he said. Intel's first-quarter results and second-quarter guidance beat estimates, helping to improve sentiment and lift shares in Tokyo.
Tokyo Electron was up 3.83 percent to 4,465, Elpida Memory gained 2.59 percent to 1,146 and Toshiba added 3.99 percent to 417. Sony also tacked on 0.61 percent after Sony Ericsson's chief executive said that supply-chain problems in Japan are stabilising. But dealers warned the gains would only serve as a one-off boost to the Japanese market. "Even if today's a buy, it's still difficult to push up shares strongly because there are no domestic driving factors," said Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities.
He also cited uncertainty over Japan's corporate earnings due to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Shares of Tokyo Electric Power, operator of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant whose reactor cooling systems were crippled by the tsunami to trigger the worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl, were down 0.44 percent at 445 yen. The US dollar stood at 82.94 yen, up slightly from 82.57 in New York Tuesday. The euro was $1.4391 dollars and 119.32 yen, compared with $1.4334 and 118.35 yen in New York.
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