TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share average closed at the highest level in two weeks on Wednesday as chip stocks led a rally on bets for a more dovish U.S. Federal Reserve.
The tech-heavy Nikkei ended the day up 0.6% at 31,936.51, building on Tuesday’s 2.4% surge. It had earlier pushed as high as 32,037.07, crossing the psychological 32,000 line for the first time since Oct. 2.
Chip-related shares comprised four of the six biggest percentage gainers, led by Lasertec’s 6.33% jump. Startup investor SoftBank Group was another notable member of the top six, rising 2.64%.
Japan’s Nikkei clocks best day in nine months on Wall Street gains, bargain hunting
However, looking stock by stock, the Nikkei’s performance was more mixed, with 86 of its 225 components rising versus 133 that fell, with six flat.
The broader Topix index finished down 0.19%, after flipping between small gains and losses through the session.
Overnight, the tech-focused Nasdaq led gains among Wall Street’s big three indexes, and the Philadephia SE Semiconductor Index advanced 1.3%.
Atlanta Fed Bank President Raphael Bostic said on Tuesday the central bank did not need to raise borrowing costs any further, and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari followed with similar remarks later in the day.
Long-term Treasury yields, whose months-long surge had fuelled jitters across asset classes, continued their decline from the 16-year highs reached last week.
“For the time being, there’s a sense that U.S. yields have peaked out,” helping to lift sentiment, said Kazuo Kamitani, a strategist at Nomura Securities.
He said overseas factors are likely to be the market’s main drivers until the domestic earnings season picks up from the week after next.
The top losers on Wednesday were shippers, with an index of the shares tumbling 3.52%, as investors locked in profits following a surge to a two-week high in the previous session. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha was by far the Nikkei’s worst performer, slumping 6.1%.
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