Japan shares track Wall St higher; auto, shippers shine
29/03/2022 04:37
TOKYO, March 29 (Reuters) - Japanese shares tracked Wall
Street higher on Tuesday, with auto makers and shippers leading
the gains, as the market was underpinned by demand for securing
rights for dividend payouts.
The Nikkei share average .N225 rose 0.6% to 28,110.73
before the midday break, while the broader Topix .TOPX gained
0.57% to 1,984.65.
"Today is the last day to secure dividend allotments, which
boosted demand for stocks," Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market
strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management, said, adding
that a fall in oil prices also lifted investors' sentiment.
Auto and parts makers .ITEQP.T and shippers .ISHIP.T led
gains among the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 33 industry subindexes,
rising 1.71% and 1.68%, respectively.
Toyota Motor 7203.T rose 2.2%, Honda Motor 7267.T gained
1.78% and Nissan Motor 7201.T climbed 1.52% as the yen hovered
its lowest against the dollar JPY=EBS since August 2015.
On the other hand, refiners .IPETE.T were the top losers,
falling 2.31% as oil prices fell.
Eneos Holdings 5020.T slipped 2.29% and Idemitsu Kosan
5019.T lost 2.81%.
Utility Chubu Electric Power 9502.T rose 5.31% and was the
top performer on the Nikkei, followed by medical platform M3
2413.T , which rose 4.9% and a retailer Seven & i Holdings
3382.T , up 4.89%.
There were 122 advancers on the Nikkei index against 99
decliners.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board was 0.62 billion, compared to the average of 1.37
billion in the past 30 days.
(Reporting by Junko Fujita; editing by Uttaresh.V)
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