Japan's Nikkei snaps losing streak as chip-sector stocks rebound
18/04/2024 08:05
(Updates with closing prices)
By Kevin Buckland
TOKYO, April 18 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average
rose for the first time in four sessions on Thursday, as
chip-sector shares reversed early declines and bank shares
rallied.
The Nikkei .N225 ended the day up 0.31% at 38,079.70,
bouncing back from a drop of as much as 0.83% early in the
session to recover the psychological 38,000 mark.
For the week though, the index remains 3.65% lower, on track
for the biggest weekly decline since December 2022.
The broader Topix .TOPX reversed small early losses to
finish with a 0.54% gain.
"The Japanese market has been strong since the start of the
year, so it's natural for some investors to take profits,"
leading to weakness at the start of this week, said Kenji Abe,
an equities strategist at Daiwa Securities.
"I'm still sanguine about the outlook for Japanese equities
because earnings are quite robust," Abe said, predicting the
Nikkei will climb to 43,000 over the coming 12 months.
For the year, the Nikkei remains up 13.79%. It rose to a
record 41,087.75 on March 22, and had declined 7.61% from that
point as of Wednesday's close.
The earnings season began earlier this month with retailers
headlining early reports. Tech names are due from next week,
although the bulk of company announcements come in mid-May.
Japanese semiconductor shares initially sank on Thursday
after Dutch computer chip equipment maker ASML ASML.AS
announced new bookings on Wednesday that fell well short of
analyst estimates.
However, the mood turned amid hopes for strong earnings from
Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC 2330.TW , which bore fruit about half
an hour to the Tokyo market close with an estimate-topping 9%
rise in net profit.
Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest 6857.T rose more
than 5% to be the Nikkei's top performer, reversing an initial
2.5% decline.
Regional lenders were another bright spot, with Concordia
Financial Group 7186.T climbing 4.82%, Chiba Bank 8331.T up
3.46% and Fukuoka Financial Group 8354.T gaining 3.04%.
(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and
Mrigank Dhaniwala
)
((Kevin.Buckland@thomsonreuters.com;))