Nikkei advances

Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Wednesday, brushing a 12-day high, buoyed by strong earnings for blue chips such as Sony and Sharp and the yen's slide to near two-week lows against the dollar. The Nikkei ended the day up 0.86 percent at 22,746.70 after touching 22,775.47, its highest since July 20. The broader Topix gained 0.94 percent to 1,769.76. "The gains by US shares and the yen's depreciation are supportive for the Nikkei. It has become easier for the market to focus on such supportive factors with the Bank of Japan's policy meeting over," said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
The dollar extended its rally and rose above 112.00 yen for the first time since July 20, having bounced from a low of 110.75 after the BOJ tweaked monetary policy on Tuesday but stuck to an easy policy framework.
Reports that the Trump administration plans to propose slapping tariffs of 25 percent on $200 billion of Chinese imports, after initially setting them at 10 percent, were taken in stride for now. Robust corporate results from abroad and at home helped lift a variety of shares on Wednesday. Sony Corp rose 4.8 percent after the company reported record first quarter profit thanks to a surge in the sales of game software.
Supported by strong sales of Switch game titles, Nintendo Co reported a better-than-expected 88 percent jump in first quarter operating profit and the company's shares were up 6.37 percent. Sharp Corp gained 7.2 percent after its first quarter operating profit soared 45 percent on the back of its core display business and strong sales of camera modules and sensors.
Apple-linked shares also advanced after the iPhone maker posted quarterly results that topped Wall Street targets and forecast above-expected revenue in the current quarter. Electronic component maker Kyocera Corp rose 5.9 percent and display manufacturer Nitto Denko Corp added 8 percent. The banking subsector advanced 2.8 percent, buoyed by a rise in long-term interest rates - a boon to banks' profitability.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group was up 2.4 percent and Mizuho Financial Group rose 2.7 percent. Bank of Kyoto surged 8.1 percent. Japan's benchmark 10-year yield rose on Wednesday to a 1-1/2-year high as the bond market tested the BOJ after the central bank said it will allow for greater flexibility in yield moves.
Declining shares included semiconductor maker Renesas Electronics, which slumped 8.2 percent after company issued a bearish forecast for the year through December. Panasonic Corp slipped 1.8 percent despite posting a 19 percent increase in first quarter profit as three of its four main business segments experienced operating profit declines.