TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share average rebounded on Tuesday from a three-week low hit in the previous session, as chip-sector stocks tracked an overnight rally in their US peers.

The Nikkei ended the morning session 0.2% higher at 39,676.34, poised to snap a four-day losing streak that pulled the benchmark index as low as 39,519.39 on Monday for the first time since July 2.

The index rose as much as 0.8% earlier in the session, but failed to reach the psychological 40,000 mark. The broader Topix added 0.4%.

The Nikkei’s three biggest points advancers were all chip-related stocks led by chip-testing equipment maker and Nvidia supplier Advantest, which gained 1.82%, and followed by chip-making machinery giant Tokyo Electron with a 0.9% rise.

Shares of silicon processor Shin-Etsu Chemical were up 0.7%.

“The rebound in chip-sector stocks, inspired by the rally in Nvidia and its peers in the US overnight, is pulling up the Nikkei,” said Kazuo Kamitani, an equities strategist at Nomura Securities.

“There’s also an element of a natural rebound from the Nikkei’s recent big sell-off.”

Japan’s Nikkei extends falls as chip-related stocks tumble

The best performer among the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 industry groups was shipping, which soared 6.81%, far outpacing second-place banking’s 1.56% advance.

Shippers advanced after Nippon Yusen raised its profit forecast following the market close on Monday.

Nippon Yusen was the Nikkei’s biggest percentage gainer, rising 7.9%, followed by peer Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, which rallied 7.3%.

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