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JAPAN-STOCKS-CLOSING-ROUNDUP
Roundup: Tokyo stocks close higher on upbeat earnings, stimulus hopes
TOKYO, Feb 3, 2021 (BSS/XINHUA) – Tokyo stocks closed higher Wednesday as Japanese companies reporting solid earnings and outlooks attracted buying amid hopes for U.S. stimulus measures to tackle the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average added 284.33 points, or 1.00 percent, from Tuesday to close the day at 28,646.50.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, gained 24.07 points, or 1.30 percent, to finish at 1,871.09.
Stocks here inherited another upbeat lead from Wall Street overnight, which set a positive tone from the get-go, local brokers said, with previous concerns about turbulence caused by retail investors in the U.S. abating as investors focused primarily on recent earnings.
“Robust earnings of global IT firms have boosted investor expectations for better earnings of Japanese companies, while worries about a short-squeeze triggered by U.S. retail investors had been erased,” Koichi Kurose, a chief strategist at Resona Asset Management, was quoted as saying.
U.S. tech heavyweights Amazon and Alphabet, the partner company of Google, led the charge overnight on Wall Street, prior to releasing their results, with investors being also optimistic about steps made towards a pandemic-related aid package in the United States, market strategists here said.
“The market was also lifted by growing hopes for U.S. President Joe Biden’s 1.9 trillion U.S. dollars fiscal stimulus plan, following reports that Democrats are moving to pass the large relief package without support from Republicans,” Kazuo Kamitani, a strategist in the Investment Content Department of Nomura Securities Co., was quoted as saying.
By the close of play, air transportation, real estate and transportation equipment issues comprised those that advanced the most.
“Companies that upgraded their forecasts such as Toyota Motor Corp.-related manufacturers led the advance,” Kamitani noted.
As such, Toyota Motor suppliers, Denso jumped 3.9 percent, while Toyota Boshoku leapt 4.9 percent.
Toyota Motor, for its part, accelerated 4.4 percent, while Mitsubishi Motor led gains on the Nikkei 225 index, after the automaker the previous day lowered its annual net loss forecast for the year through March, citing cost-cutting efforts.
Panasonic rose 3.8 percent, after raising its full-year operating profit forecast on expectations its battery business, which supplies Tesla Inc., would be profitable this fiscal year.
Trading houses advanced, with Marubeni climbing 5.6 percent, after upgrading its full-year earnings outlook on rising oil prices, while Mitsui rose 1.7 percent, after upwardly revising its forecast on rising prices for iron ore.
On the main section on Wednesday, 1,374.38 million shares changed hands, rising from Tuesday’s volume of 1,168.98 million shares.
The turnover on the third trading day of the week came to 2,786.31 billion yen (26.52 billion U.S. dollars).
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