Japan's Nikkei ends higher as profit-taking in new fiscal year ends
04/04/2024 07:59
(Updates with closing prices)
TOKYO, April 4 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average
ended higher on Thursday, as investors scooped up stocks
following a heavy profit-booking sell-off earlier this week as
the new financial year started.
The Nikkei .N225 rose 0.81% to close at 39,773.14, after
rising as much as 2% to cross 40,000.
The broader Topix .TOPX ended 0.94% higher at 2,732.00.
"Investors scooped up stocks on dips as a series of
sell-offs related to profit-booking is over," said Naoki
Fujiwara, senior fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management.
"Their positive view on the Japanese stock market has not
changed so it was natural that there was a buying on dips."
Chip-related Socionext 6526.T surged 17.55% to a daily
limit high after Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities raised its
rating. Robot maker Fanuc 6954.T rose 3.16% and technology
start-up investor SoftBank Group 9984.T climbed 1.07%.
The Nikkei has lost 4.6% from a record-high scaled on March
22 to the previous session's low.
The index hit successive record highs in March, after
crossing levels last seen in 1989 during the country's bubble
economy on Feb. 22.
There was a similar sell-off around this time in April 2023,
but it was not as drastic as this year, said Ryotaro Sawada,
senior analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory.
Among individual stocks, Kao 4452.T jumped 5.14%, after
Hong Kong-based activist investor Oasis Management said it would
start a campaign against the cosmetics firm to redefine its
brand portfolio and improve marketing.
Itochu 8001.T rallied for a second session, rising 0.68%
after the trading firm said on Wednesday it aimed to boost
profit to a record 880 billion yen from an estimated 800 billion
yen in the year just ended.
Itochu, in which Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway
BRKa.N holds a minority stake, surged 6.4% in the previous
session.
(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Janane
Venkatraman)
((junko.fujita@thomsonreuters.com;))