Tokyo stocks closed higher Wednesday with investor sentiment buoyed by the Dow's fifth straight record close and better-than-expected results from Apple. In New York the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average had finished at its fifth straight all-time high on Tuesday on bullish investor sentiment and ahead of the tech giant's much-anticipated report. After the bell, Apple announced stronger-than-expected results for the most recent quarter, triggering buying in Tokyo as a range of Japanese companies supply components for its iPhone and other products.
The California-based company also gave a forecast-beating view for the current quarter. "Apple, which tends to be conservative on outlooks, provided a strong forecast," noted Norihiro Fujito, a senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. "This is like telling the market, which had been worried about its new product, that it's going to be alright," he told Bloomberg News.
Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary that electronics companies were drawing investor attention "as expectations are likely to mount for a new iPhone expected to be launched as early as in September". The benchmark Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.47 percent, or 94.25 points, to 20,080.04, while the Topix index of all first-section issues was up 0.36 percent, or 5.88 points, at 1,634.38.
Nidec, a major manufacturer of motors and supplier to Apple, soared 5.37 percent to 12,850 yen, while fellow Apple supplier Murata Manufacturing climbed 4.88 percent to 17,830 yen. Honda jumped 2.78 percent to 3,214 yen after revising up its full-year forecasts on strong April-June results.
Sony fell 0.94 percent to 4,417 yen on profit-taking after its announcement of sharp rebounds in its quarterly earnings. SoftBank closed up 0.62 percent at 8,915 yen after US wireless carrier Sprint, which it controls, said it had returned to profit in April-June. The dollar strengthened to 110.71 yen on Wednesday against 110.36 yen in New York Tuesday afternoon.
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