Japan shares follow Wall Street higher on U.S. stimulus hopes

Kakaku.com

23/10/2020 04:30

TOKYO, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Japanese shares edged higher on
Friday, following a firmer finish on Wall Street, although gains
were somewhat capped by weakness in semiconductor stocks after
shares of industry bellwether Intel Corp tumbled overnight. 
    The benchmark Nikkei share average  .N225  rose 0.21% to
23,523.95 by the midday break, while the broader Topix  .TOPX 
was nearly flat at 1,619.91.
    Wall Street provided a strong lead as positive domestic
economic data and signs of progress in stimulus talks helped all
three major U.S. stock indexes finish higher on Thursday.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2HC22N  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2HC1JI urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2HC1JV
    The market had little reaction to the final U.S.
presidential debate ahead of the November election. 
    Among the top losers on Friday, shares of semiconductor
firms Tokyo Electron  8035.T  and Advantest Corp  6857.T  lost
2.14% and 0.54%, respectively, following a 10% decline in
Intel's shares  INTC.O  after it reported a slump in quarterly
margins.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2HD4IR
    Mitsubishi Heavy Industries  7011.T  climbed more than 4.9%
after Reuters reported it would freeze development of its
SpaceJet regional jet.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2HD59K
    Online games developer Nexon Co  3659.T  soared above 15%,
having hit the daily limit earlier, after media reported that
the company would replace FamilyMart Co  8028.T  in the Nikkei
stock average.
    Other companies that were seen as potential candidates for
replacement, such as Kakaku.com Inc  2371.T  and Zozo Inc
 3092.T , fell 6.76% and 8.03%, respectively.
    Japan Exchange Group  8697.T  edged 0.34% higher after the
Nikkei business daily reported the Japanese financial regulator
had entered the Tokyo Stock Exchange to conduct an on-site
inspection to investigate the causes behind a full-day trading
halt earlier this month.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2HE07V
    The Mothers Index  .MTHR  of start-up firm shares slipped
2.82% as investors booked profits after recent rallies, and was
set to post the biggest weekly loss since mid-March.
    Meanwhile, the TSE REIT index  .TREIT  edged 0.23% lower,
after hitting its lowest level since Aug. 12 in early trade.

 (Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu; Editing by Aditya Soni)
 ((eimi.yamamitsu@thomsonreuters.com;))