Japan's Nikkei rises on Advantest profit outlook but Samsung weighs

TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share average advanced on Thursday on heavyweight chip equipment maker Advantest’s improved profit forecast, although South Korea’s Samsung Electronics dampened the mood after its shares tumbled despite record earnings.

The Nikkei ended the morning session with a 0.3% gain to 64,131.28, although it had earlier been up as much as 1.3% before Samsung’s announcement.

Advantest was responsible for the Nikkei’s rise, providing 408 points in the Nikkei’s net gain of 177 points.

The broader Topix fell 0.3% to 3,979.89, after being down for most of the morning session.

Japan, South Korea and the US are in the thick of the tech earnings season.

SK Hynix results on Wednesday had buoyed the Nikkei.

Wall Street provided a mixed bag overnight, with Alphabet reporting a hefty cash burn that sent shares sliding in extended trading, while Microsoft delivered a big cash flow beat.

Hundreds of Japanese companies report results on Thursday and Friday, while the Bank of Japan announces a policy decision on Friday.

“Ahead of these events, the market is perhaps showing a bit of nervousness,” said Maki Sawada, an equities strategist at Nomura Securities.

“We are possibly seeing investors taking a risk-averse stance.”

Advantest gained 5.4% and was earlier up as much as 9.1%, after raising its annual operating profit forecast by 14% on Wednesday after trading had ended.

However, many other chip and AI-related shares shed early advances, with Tokyo Electron sliding 0.9% and SoftBank Group easing 0.6%.

Hitachi tumbled 8.7% to be the Nikkei’s biggest percentage decliner, despite raising its full-year profit forecast.

Of the Nikkei’s 225 components, 123 fell versus 99 that rose, with three trading flat.