TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei rose for a fourth straight session on Monday, driven by automobiles stocks after Toyota Motor revealed it might invest in key parts supplier Toyota Industries.
Sentiment was also buoyed broadly by some signs of a thaw in the Sino-US trade standoff, with US President Donald Trump saying on Friday that he had spoken with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The Nikkei rose 0.4% to close at 35,839.99. Earlier in the day, the index rose as high as 36,075.26, crossing the psychological 36,000 level for the first time since April 1.
The benchmark index hasn’t posted a four-day winning streak since January.
The broader Topix gained 0.9%.
Trump also said on Friday that a tariff agreement with Tokyo is very close, without providing details.
“The backdrop to everything is US tariff negotiations, and rising optimism there is supporting stock markets,” said Maki Sawada, a strategist at Nomura.
However, ahead of a national holiday on Tuesday in Japan, and in a week packed with earnings reports that includes some of Wall Street’s Magnificent Seven tech megacaps, “investors will be reluctant to chase the market much higher”, Sawada said.
Transport equipment jumped 3.1%, making it the standout performer among the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 industry sectors.
Toyota Motor climbed 3.6%. Over the weekend, Japan’s biggest automaker said it was exploring the possibility of investing in a potential buyout of Toyota Industries.
Shares of Toyota Industries rose by their daily limit of 23% at the close after being untraded through the day due to excess demand.
One notable decliner was chip-testing equipment maker Advantest, a Nvidia supplier, which tumbled 4.8% after its profit forecast trailed analysts’ estimates.
Daiwa Securities rose 1.8% and construction machinery maker Komatsu jumped 2.3% after both companies announced massive share buybacks.
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