Japanese shares end higher, all eyes on U.S. election results

Fujikura

04/11/2020 06:45

TOKYO, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Japanese shares rose on Wednesday
as markets cautiously eyed the U.S. presidential election
results, while gains were capped as voting projections showed a
tight race between President Donald Trump and Democratic
challenger Joe Biden.
    The benchmark Nikkei share average  .N225  rose 1.72% to
close at 23,695.23, after rallying more than 2% in early trade
to its highest level since February.
    The broader Topix  .TOPX  gained 1.2% to 1,627.25.
    Investors had initially priced in a possible Democratic
sweep by Biden, which could ease political risk while promising
a huge boost to fiscal stimulus.
    But gains were capped as worries of a contested election
returned after Trump took the lead over Biden in the vital
battleground of Florida and other U.S. swing states.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2HP0DS
    "While the outcome is still not concrete, stocks seem to be
moving in the direction of pricing in a higher probability of a
Trump win," said Fumio Matsumoto, chief strategist at Okasan
Securities.
    Incoming election results "indirectly took Japan's renewable
energy-related stocks lower," such as Renova  9519.T , Matsumoto
said.
    "Although Biden's (clean energy) plan does not have direct
link to Japan, there were speculations that a Biden presidency
would lead to Japan's shift from coal-fired thermal power to
renewable energy," he said. 
    Renova  9519.T , a company engaged in renewable energy
generation business, fell 6.36%.
    Leading gains among the top 30 core Topix were Recruit
Holdings Co Ltd  6098.T  up 5.16 %, followed by Daiichi Sankyo
Co Ltd  4568.T . 
    Among the largest percentage gainers in the index were
Fujikura Ltd  5803.T  up 27.92%, followed by NTT Data Corp
 9613.T  gaining 11.04 % after both firms logged
better-than-expected earnings results for the fiscal year ending
March.
    Elsewhere, the Mothers Index  .MTHR  of start-up firm shares
snapped four consecutive sessions of losses and jumped more than
5.3%, marking its biggest daily gain since early May.

 (Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu and Tokyo markets team; Editing by
Rashmi Aich)
 ((eimi.yamamitsu@thomsonreuters.com;))