TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share average rose more than 1 percent on Thursday in its third straight session of gains, as technology heavyweights tracked their Wall Street peers higher.
The Nikkei climbed 1.23 percent to 50,167.1, closing above the key 50,000 level for the first time since November 17. The broader Topix rose 0.39 percent to 3,368.57.
“Technology stocks lifted Wall Street overnight, and the Japanese market exactly mirrored it today,” said Shuutarou Yasuda, a market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory.
Wall Street extended its rally on Wednesday as revived tech strength and the increasing probability of a December interest rate cut put investors in a buying mood the day before the Thanksgiving holiday.
In Japan, technology investor SoftBank Group rose 3.57 percent in its second straight session of gains. The stock fell to a more than two-month low earlier this week and traded 40 percent below its late October peak on Thursday.
“Investors continued to buy SoftBank Group shares on a dip,” Yasuda said.