Japan’s Nikkei jumps 3% as precious metals sell-off pauses By Junko Fujita

TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share average climbed 3% on Tuesday, rebounding from a decline posted in the previous session, after the sell-off of precious metals paused.

The Nikkei was up 3.05% to 54,261.71, as of 0127 GMT. The index erased most of its early gains to close 1.25% lower on Monday as prices of precious metals slumped.

The broader Topix jumped 2.5% to 3,624.26 on Tuesday.

“The market was worried about the impact of the sell-off of the precious metals in the previous session on other assets.

But the stocks in the US and Europe were strong overnight,“ said Shuutarou Yasuda, a market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory.

“That prompted investors to scoop up the stocks in today’s session,” he said.

The market also welcomed robust US factory activity data as a sign of the economy’s strength, which also became a cue for the rally in Japanese stocks, said Yasuda.

The S&P 500 closed higher on Monday, lifted by gains in chipmakers and other companies related to artificial intelligence, while smaller companies also rose sharply.

The other two main indexes, the Nasdaq and Dow Jones Industrial Average, also edged higher.

In Japan, chip-testing equipment maker Advantest rose 4.65% and chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron climbed nearly 4%.

Optical fibre cable maker Fujikura jumped 6.77%.

Shares of TDK surged 11.5% after the electronic component maker raised its annual profit forecast for the year to March.

Yamaha Motor fell 10% after the motorcycle maker cut its annual profit forecast for the year to December.

Of more than 1,600 stocks trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s prime market, 79% rose and 17% fell, while 3% traded flat.