Japanese shares rally; property developers, growth stocks lead gains

TOKYO: Japanese shares rallied on Tuesday, with the broad Topix index hitting a two-month high, as property shares extended their gains while technology and growth-oriented firms enjoyed a boost from strong gains in the Nasdaq.

As of 0045 GMT, the Nikkei was up 0.88% at 29,419.36, having hit its highest level since early May while the broader Topix rose 0.54% to 1,970.42, reaching its highest levels since early April.

While investors focus on the US Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting due to begin later in the day, hopes of global trade recovery and economic reopenings at home underpinned market sentiment.

Real estate firms were among the best performers with gains of 1.6% as they continued to benefit from hopes of economic reopenings as vaccine roll-outs accelerate.

Sumitomo Realty & Development rose 3.4%, having risen almost 20% over the past month. Mitsubishi Estate gained 2.2% and Mitsui Fudosan added 1.6%.

Growth shares led the gains after Nasdaq shares outperformed on Wall Street, with Topix Growth Index rising 0.8%, compared with 0.3% gains in value shares.

Among them, precision machine maker Olympus rose 2.8%, while drugmaker Eisai gained 2.6%. Robot maker Fanuc added 2.5%.

Takeda Pharmaceutical, which is handling supply of Novavax's vaccine in Japan, rose 1.5% after clinical tests showed the US firm's COVID-19 vaccine as having 90% efficacy.

Mitsui High-tec jumped 4% after a 16% rise in the previous day following surprisingly strong earnings results.

On the other hand, Park 24 plunged 12.8% after the operator of parking spaces announced a surprise downgrade in earnings guidance, forecasting an annual loss.