Japan's Nikkei closed up over one percent at a two-week high on Tuesday on hopes for robust data on economic growth, with tech shares such as Advantest Corp back in favour after being hurt by the yen's strength.
Expectations that Japanese gross domestic product data for the October-December quarter out on Wednesday will show strong signs the economy is pulling out of 10 years of stagnation lent broad support to the market, with domestic demand-led sectors such as steel gaining.
A Reuters poll of 28 economists produced a median forecast for annualised growth of 4.6 percent, faster than the 4.0 percent expansion in the United States in the same quarter.
"If we're going to have growth of around five percent, market participants are not really going to ignore that," said Kazunori Jinnai, general equities manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC.
That sentiment flowed over into tech issues, which had largely been out in the cold since early February as worries about the yen's strength and disappointing earnings from digital cameras weighed.
But yen concerns took a back seat as the dollar rose to its highest levels in 11 days, trading around 106.02 yen as dealers grew nervous about possible intervention by the Bank of Japan.
The Nikkei average ended up 1.44 percent or 152.41 points at 10,701.13, its biggest one-day percentage gain since January 19, when it rose 1.65 percent.
It climbed as high as 10,721.31, its highest intraday level since February 3. The TOPIX index rose 0.92 percent to 1,054.61.
Semiconductor testing device maker Advantest jumped 5.2 percent to 8,290 yen and its rival Tokyo Electron climbed 4.58 percent to 7,080 yen.
Heavyweight blue chips also marched higher.
Kyocera Corp rose 2.21 percent to 7,400 yen after raising its full-year net profit estimate by 28 percent on healthy demand for components and cellphones and a pension-related special gain.
Electronics giant Sony Corp advanced 2.78 percent to 4,430 yen and Canon Inc jumped 2.99 percent to 5,160.
Telecom stocks were also firmer after Goldman Sachs raised its coverage view of the Japanese sector to neutral from cautious.
Nippon Steel Corp, the second most active issue on the main board, climbed 3.33 percent to 217 yen. Kobe Steel Ltd rose 3.2 percent to 129.
Trade in Kanebo accounted for 8.25 percent of total volume, which was active. Some 1.239 billion shares changed hands, the highest total since January 23. Gainers outnumbered decliners 971 to 427 on the first section.
After the bell, Internet portal Yahoo Japan Corp said on Tuesday it planned a 2-for-1 share split on May 20.
The nation's largest media stock closed up 0.55 percent at 1.82 million yen.
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