TOKYO: Japanese shares on Wednesday tracked overnight gains on Wall Street, with technology heavyweights leading the climb and energy shares rising on firmer oil prices.
The Nikkei share average was up 1% at 28,215.09 by 0215 GMT, while the broader Topix jumped 1.08% to 1,968.17.
“The Nikkei crossed a 200-day moving average — which foreign investors pay attention to — in the previous session and that prompted investors to make further bets today,” said Shuji Hosoi, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.
US stocks ended higher overnight along with Apple and other technology shares, while Target Corp’s disappointing margin forecast weighed on retail stocks for much of the day.
In Japan, Air-conditioning maker Daikin Industries rose 2.78% and was the top gainer on the Nikkei.
Technology investor SoftBank Group gained 2.69%, medical services platform M3 jumped 6.27% and robot maker Fanuc climbed 2.26%. Oil explorers added 4.31% to be the top gaining sector among the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 industry sub-indexes.
Real estate shares rose 2.8%, with Tokyu Fudosan Holdings jumping 4.31%.
Insurers and banks fell 0.47% and 0.84%, respectively, after US Treasury yields fell. Dai-ichi Life Holdings lost 2.13% and was one of the top losers on the Nikkei.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group Inc were the worst performers among the top core 30 Topix names, falling 1.57% and 1.39%, respectively.
Fast Retailing gave up early gains to edge down 0.44% after the Uniqlo owner said it would raise prices on some goods this fall.