Nikkei climbs to near 3-week high as Wall St rally supports

UBE

26/02/2018 06:15

TOKYO, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average rose 
to near three-week highs on Monday, with most sectors advancing 
as investor confidence continued to improve after Wall Street 
made steady gains. 
    The Nikkei  .N225  ended the day up 1.2 percent at 
22,153.63, after earlier touching 22,226.53, the highest since 
Feb. 7. 
    The largest percentage gainer in the index was Ube 
Industries Ltd  4208.T  up 4.75 percent, and on the losing side  
Tokai Carbon Co Ltd  5301.T  fell the most with a 4.41 percent 
slump. 
    Of Tokyo's 33 sub-indexes, 31 gained, with defensive stocks 
like pharmaceuticals  .IPHAM.T  in the lead. 
    Overall, market gains were limited by caution ahead of new 
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's semi-annual Congressional 
testimony starting on Tuesday. 
    Investors will be looking for clues on his views on monetary 
policy at a time when equity markets are fretting over rising 
U.S. yields and the risks of faster-than-expected interest rate 
rises. 
    The broader Topix .TOPX was 0.8 percent higher at 1,774.81. 
 
 (Reporting by the Tokyo markets team 
Editing by Shri Navaratnam) 
 ((shinichi.saoshiro@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: 
shinichi.saoshiro.reuters.com@reuters.net 
+813-6441-1774)) 
 
Keywords: JAPAN STOCKS/CLOSE