Japan's Nikkei rallies after steep decline as focus turns to tech results

TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share average rose on Tuesday as markets reopened after a holiday and ​investors seized on bargains following the gauge’s steepest ‌weekly selloff in more than a year.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 advanced 1.25% to 64,945.96 in early trading, recovering part of its 6.4% ​plunge last week. The broader Topix  climbed 1.33% ​to 3,971.20.

While Japanese markets were closed on Monday, Wall ⁠Street indexes edged lower as an escalation in the ​U.S.-Iran conflict put upward pressure on oil prices.

Investor attention is now ​turning to second-quarter results due later this week from AI bellwethers including Alphabet, Tesla and Intel.

“Compared to the sharp fall we saw ​in the latter half of last week, this technical ​rebound does not yet appear to have very strong momentum,” said ‌Wataru ⁠Akiyama, an equities strategist at Nomura Securities.

“Upcoming earnings announcements in Japan and the U.S., particularly those from major names, are likely to resolve some of this weakness in ​AI-related shares.”

Breadth on ​the Nikkei ⁠was overwhelmingly positive, with 196 of the 225 names trading higher and 28 lower.

The ​largest percentage gainers in the index were ​chipmaker Kioxia ⁠Holdings, up 5.89%, followed by cosmetics giant Shiseido, 5.78% higher, and heavy machinery maker IHI, which gained 4.14%.

The largest ⁠losers ​were video game maker Nintendo, down ​3.91%, followed by tech-industry supplier Sumco , 3.45% lower, and Nikon, which lost ​2.18%.