Japanese shares track Wall St higher, cautious outlook caps gains

Fujikura

25/06/2021 03:51

TOKYO, June 25 (Reuters) - Japanese shares rose on Friday,
led by cyclical and technology stocks, as markets tracked a
strong finish on Wall Street, although the gains were capped by
a cautious outlook of U.S. equities and worries around the
domestic economy's recovery.
    The Nikkei share average  .N225  gained 0.73% to 29,084.95
by 0215 GMT, while the broader Topix  .TOPX  rose 0.64% to
1,959.61
    The Nasdaq  .IXIC  and the S&P 500  .SPX  closed at record
highs overnight, while the Dow  .DJI  jumped almost 1% after
U.S. President Joe Biden embraced a bipartisan Senate
infrastructure deal.  .N 
    "Today's (Friday) market is tracking Wall Street's strong
gains. But investors, particularly in Japan, are getting wary of
U.S. markets taking a pause anytime soon," said Shoichi Arisawa,
general manager of the investment research department at
IwaiCosmo Securities.
    "Prospects of an economic recovery in Japan is getting
unclear as the number of new COVID-19 infections is on the rise
again, and the pandemic could worsen as Japan is holding the
Olympics."
    Cyclical shares rose, with oil and coal developers
 .IMING.T  and steel makers  ISTEL.T  leading the Tokyo Stock
Exchange's 33 sector sub-indexes.
    Technology stocks also advanced, with Tokyo Electron
 8035.T  rising 0.99%, Advantest  6857.T  jumping 2.0%, Fanuc
 6954.T  gaining 0.46%.
    Panasonic  6752.T  jumped 4.61% as filing made by the maker
of bicycles to hair dryers showed it sold all of its stake in
Tesla  TSLA.O  last fiscal year.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2O6374
    Nikkei's 29,000-mark has become a psychological barrier as
Japan's outlook of an economic recovery remains uncertain,
market participants said.
    Mazda Motor Corp  7261.T , up 6.35%, gained the most on the
Nikkei, followed by Panasonic and Fujikura  5803.T  which rose 
3.91%.
    Drug maker Eisai Co Ltd  4523.T  fell 4%, making it the
biggest loser on the Nikkei, followed by shipping firms Mitsui
OSK Lines  9104.T  and Nippon Yusen  9101.T , losing 2.1% and
1.6%, respectively.
    

 (Reporting by Junko Fujita; editing by Uttaresh.V)
 ((813-4563-2711, junko.fujita@thomsonreuters.com, Reuters
Messaging:junko.fujita.reuters.com@reuters.net;))