Japan stocks close: Japanese shares gain on bargain hunting after sharp losses

TOKYO: Japanese shares advanced on Thursday, led by technology shares, as investors scooped up bargains after sharp losses in the previous session.

The Nikkei share average rose 0.67% to close at 29,499.28 points, while the broader Topix gained 0.33% to 2,025.69.

“The declines in the previous session, which had no clear reasons, was deeper than expected and today’s gain is a rebound from that,” said Ikuo Mitsui, fund manager at Aizawa Securities.

“The fundamentals for domestic growth are relatively strong, with the pandemic heading towards the end in Japan, and demand for services set to grow.”

Wall Street shares finished higher ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, with the Nasdaq Composite underpinned by tech gains.

Their peers in Japan tracked the Nasdaq, with game maker Sony Group rising 1.39%, wafer maker Shin-Etsu Chemical gaining 1.57% and chip making equipment maker Tokyo Electron climbing 0.6%.

Oil explorers were among the top performers in the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo exchange, rising 1.85%, as oil prices remained largely steady.

Probiotic yogurt maker Yakult Honsha gained 0.51% after its professional baseball club Yakult Swallows came within one win of the Japan Series championship.

ANA Holdings lost 5.65% as the airliner raised funds through a convertible bond sale.

ANA’s peers fell 3.89% and were the worst performers among the sub-indexes, while railways gained 1.55%.

Mitsui & Co rose 2.32% and was the top percentage gainer among the top 30 core Topix names, followed by Fanuc , which gained 2.29%.

Recruit Holdings, losing 2.26%, was the worst performer among the top 30 Topix names, followed by Toyota Motor , which lost 0.59%.

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