Nikkei hits near 29-1/2-year peak as tech shares track Wall Street peers higher
12/11/2020 03:06
TOKYO, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average hit a
near 29-1/2-year high on Thursday, as tech shares gained after
their U.S. peers drove the Nasdaq higher overnight, while some
profit-booking after a rally on COVID-19 vaccine related
developments capped gains.
The benchmark Nikkei share average .N225 rose 0.43% to
25,459.13 by the midday break, after hitting its highest level
since June 5, 1991 earlier in the session.
The broader Topix .TOPX , however, lost 0.25% to 1,724.77,
with only seven of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo
exchange traded higher.
Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC ended 2% higher on
Wednesday, after "stay-at-home" stocks bounced back from two
straight sessions of sharp losses as investors moved away from
economically sensitive sectors back to tech. .N MKT/GLOB
Japan's tech-related shares such as Nikkei's heavyweight
SoftBank Group 9984.T benefitted from gains in their U.S.
counterparts, climbing around 1.5%.
IT equipment and service firms Fujitsu 6702.T and NEC Corp
6701.T rose around 1.6% and 0.5%, respectively.
Among gainers of the top 30 core Topix names, Nintendo
7974.T jumped 3.62% and is poised to snap four consecutive
sessions of losses.
Vaccine rally continued to lift risk sentiment, but some
investors took to profit-booking as they turned cautious after
near three-decade highs touched this week, market participants
said.
Elsewhere, Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings 3099.T fell 5.79%
after it reported its half-year net loss of 36.79 billion yen
($349.48 million). urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nXB156XCEI
Some of its department store peers followed suit, with
Takashimaya 8233.T dropping 5.17%, while J.Front Retailing
3086.T lost 4.12%.
($1 = 105.2700 yen)
(Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu and Tokyo markets team; Editing by
Rashmi Aich)
((eimi.yamamitsu@thomsonreuters.com;))