Japan's Nikkei surges after Wall Street's gains

[TOKYO] Japan’s Nikkei share average surged on Wednesday (Nov 26), with tech stocks leading the charge in a broad-based rally after Wall Street closed higher overnight on increasing prospects of an interest rate cut in December.

The Nikkei closed 1.9 per cent higher at 49,559.07, while the broader Topix gained 2 per cent.

Wall Street extended its rally on Tuesday as a spate of economic data appeared to support the case for the US Federal Reserve to implement its third and final rate cut of the year in December, while softness in the tech sector limited the Nasdaq’s gains.

“Expectations of more Fed rate cuts lifted US stocks overnight and that supported gains in the Japanese stock market today,” said Takamasa Ikeda, a senior portfolio manager at GCI Asset Management.

In Japan, heavyweight technology stocks rose. Technology investor SoftBank Group jumped 5.7 per cent after plunging nearly 20 per cent in the previous two sessions.

Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest climbed 2 per cent and Uniqlo brand owner Fast Retailing gained 1.8 per cent.

“With foreign investors leaving for the year-end holiday season, the market will start focusing on smaller stocks and that will keep the market supported,” Ikeda said.

Hokkaido Electric Power jumped 9.3 per cent after a report that Hokkaido governor Naomichi Suzuki intended to allow the restart of a reactor at its Tomari nuclear plant.

The report came after last week’s news that a regional governor had approved a partial restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO), the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant that was destroyed by the March 2011 tsunami.

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TEPCO shares rose 4.6 per cent.

Kioxia tanked nearly 15 per cent after a report that buyout firm Bain Capital planned to offload US$2 billion worth of shares in the memory chipmaker. REUTERS