Tokyo, Nov. 13 (Jiji Press)–Stocks rose sharply on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Thursday morning, with technology stocks leading the way higher tracing the strength of their U.S. counterparts overnight.
“Wall Street’s moves and foreign investors’ buying of Tokyo stocks were decisive factors behind the Nikkei average’s spike,” said Masatoshi Sato, senior strategist at Mizuho Investors Securities Co.
On top of the Nasdaq composite index’s strength, brisk August- October earnings of the world’s top chipmaking equipment maker Applied Materials Inc., announced after the closing bell, gave support to technology stocks here, especially pricey semiconductor- related issues, Sato said.
At the morning close, the 225-issue Nikkei average stood up 112.83 points, or 1.1 pct, at 10,339.05. On Wednesday, the average gained 19.18 points.
The TOPIX index of all first-section issues was up 10.28 points, or 1.0 pct, at 1,016.44. It ended down 1.15 points in the previous session.(MORE)Tokyo Stocks Sharply Higher in Morning
Winners outpaced losers 985 to 394 on the first section in the morning, while 143 issues were flat.
Half-day volume came to 481 million shares.
Investors mainly snapped up issues that have a big impact on the Nikkei. Sentiment brightened up as major banking groups and internet business investor Softbank, which dragged down the key market gauge earlier in the week, attracted buybacks, brokers said.
Foreign brokerage houses, seen selling stocks this week ahead of many hedge funds’ book closings in November, posted net buying of 6.5 million shares in preopening order placement, according to market sources.
“Foreign investors apparently posted net buying also in value terms in the morning, an indication that their recent selling was a seasonal factor and they still have appetite for Japanese stocks so long as the U.S. market holds firm,” Mizuho Investors’ Sato said.
The market remains watchful of Japan’s July-September gross domestic product data due out on Friday, brokers said.(MORE)Tokyo Stocks Sharply Higher in Morning
Winners in the technology sector included Advantest, Tokyo Electron, Canon, Sony, Toshiba and NEC.
The megabanks of Mizuho, Mitsubishi Tokyo, UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui soared. Ashikaga Financial Group drew purchases after the Asian Wall Street Journal reported that the Japanese government is considering injecting public funds into the struggling regional bank.
Major brokerage houses gained ground, including Nomura, Daiwa and Nikko.
Automakers Toyota, Honda and Nissan were firmer.
Drug maker Mitsubishi Pharma gathered steam after Mitsubishi Chemical said Wednesday it will raise its stake in the drug affiliate to a maximum 60 pct through a tender offer. In contrast, rivals like Fujisawa, Takeda and Eisai were weaker.END
