Japan’s Nikkei gains after overnight decline of oil prices

TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share average rose on Tuesday as sentiment improved after oil prices fell overnight, but losses of chip-related stocks capped gains.

The Nikkei rose 0.49% to 54,013.03 as of 0124 GMT, after rising as much as 1.2% earlier in the session.

The index is on course to snap a three-session decline if the momentum holds.

The broader Topix was up 1.18% at 3,653.43.

“Investors sold chip-related stocks because there was no big positive surprise from the remarks from Nvidia overnight,” said Kazuaki Shimada, chief strategist at IwaiCosmo Securities.

Nvidia ended 1.6% higher after CEO Jensen Huang announced new components at the chipmaker’s annual developer conference.

“But the CEO’s comments might not have been fully digested in the market,” he added.

Advantest, a chip-testing equipment maker and supplier to Nvidia, fell 1.7% to weigh the most on the Nikkei. Technology investor SoftBank Group lost 0.75%.

The Nikkei trimmed early gains as oil prices reversed some of the previous session’s losses in early trade.

“The Nikkei moves inversely to oil prices these days,” Shimada said. Value stocks, which are affected by the ongoing Middle East conflict, rose, with the shipping sector jumping 6.1% to become the top performer among the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s (TSE) 33 industry sub-indexes.

Kawasaki Kisen and Nippon Yusen jumped 8.54% and 7.61%, respectively, to become the Nikkei’s top percentage gainers.

The mining sector rose 3.5% and the refiners gained 2.46%.

Other value stocks rose, with trading house Mitsui & Co gaining 5.29% to become the largest contributor to the Topix’s gain.

The Topix’s value shares index rose 1.4%, outperforming the growth shares index’s 0.86% gain.