TOKYO: Japanese stocks rose on Tuesday for the first time in three sessions, as investors focused on Covid-19 vaccine developments and held on to hopes that global economic growth will continue to recover from the coronavirus crisis.

Conglomerate SoftBank Group, however, extended falls to hit a two-month low. It settled down 0.61%, adding to the previous session's hefty 7.2% decline as the company bought large amounts of call options on US technology stocks.

The Nikkei 225 Index ended 0.8% higher at 23,274.13, with consumer discretionary and consumer staples shares leading the gains. The broader Topix rose 0.69%.

The stocks that gained the most among the top 30 core Topix names were job placement company Recruit Holdings Co Ltd, up 2.62%, followed by mobile carrier NTT Docomo Inc, rising 2.3%. The underperformers among the Topix 30 were games maker Nintendo Co Ltd, down 3.26%, followed by auto maker Honda Motor Co Ltd, losing 1.59%.