Tokyo: Nikkei rises for third session on tech boost

JAPAN’S Nikkei rose for a third straight session on Monday (Jun 27), lifted by heavyweight technology stocks, after a surge in Wall Street at the end of last week.

The Nikkei share average closed 1.43 per cent higher at 26,871.27 points, after rising as much as 1.7 per cent. The broader Topix jumped 1.12 per cent to 1,887.42.

Wall Street’s main indexes soared on Friday in a broad rally as signs of slowing economic growth and a recent pullback in commodity prices tempered expectations for the Federal Reserve’s rate-hike plans.

“US equities rose on Friday in part investors tried to adjust their allocations at the end of the half year after sharp losses of the Wall Street throughout the month,” said Ikuo Mitsui, fund manager at Aizawa Securities.

“Japanese stocks tracked that but gains were limited as investors started selling shares as the Nikkei got close to the 27,000 mark. Concerns about economic slowdown due to tightening monetary policy still remains.”

In Japan, technology investor SoftBank Group rose 3.71 per cent and provided the biggest boost to the Nikkei.

Chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron rose 2.23 per cent. Silicon wafer maker Shin-Etsu Chemical advanced 4.74 per cent and chip-testing equipment maker Advantest climbed 3.79 per cent.

Shippers jumped 5.87 per cent, rebounding from a 3.1 per cent drop last week, and led gains among the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 industry sub-indexes.

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and Nippon Yusen were the best performers on the Nikkei, rising 9.64 per cent and 5.36 per cent, respectively.

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Tokyo Electric Power Company jumped 7.55 per cent as Japan braced for a possible power crunch amid soaring temperatures across the country.

Sapporo Holdings rose 0.51 per cent. The beer maker announced the acquisition of US craft beer maker Stone Brewing.

The real estate sector lost 0.75 per cent and was the worst performer among the industry sub-indexes. REUTERS