Japanese shares end higher as cyclicals jump, tech weakness caps gains

  • Reuters
  • Stock Market News
Japanese shares end higher as cyclicals jump, tech weakness caps gains
Credit: © Reuters.

TOKYO, March 25 (Reuters) - Japanese shares closed higher on Thursday as investors scooped up beaten-down cyclical stocks, although gains were capped by technology shares that tracked Nasdaq lower.

The Nikkei 225 Index .N225 ended 1.14% higher at 28,729.88, ending a four-day losing streak, while the broader Topix .TOPX jumped 1.4% to close at 1,955.55 after falling in three straight sessions.

"There were a lot of pessimistic news that prompted investors to sell cyclical shares (yesterday). They are buying back those today," Shoichi Arisawa, general manager of the investment research department at IwaiCosmo Securities.

Nikkei heavyweight Fast Retailing 9983.T , the operator of Uniqlo brand clothing store, led the gains on Nikkei with its 1.39% gain.

Banking stocks jumped, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group 8306.T rising 2.48% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group 8316.T climbing 2.6%. Mizuho Financial Group 8411.T gained 2.01%.

Toyota Motor 7203.T edged up 0.43% after the automaker revived a partnership with Isuzu Motor 7202.T to boost their competitive edge in connected, commercial vehicles, with Toyota's truck unit Hino Motors Ltd 7205.T joining in the pact. fell 1.94%, while Hino slumped 5.19% following a surge on the news on Wednesday, making it the biggest loser on the Nikkei index.

Chip-related shares fell, with Advantest 6857.T losing 1.89% and Tokyo Electron 8035.T sliding 1.49%. They tracked a weak show by the Nasdaq overnight. .N

Tech investor SoftBank Group 9984.T , down 2.84%, was the second biggest loser on the Nikkei.

All the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo exchange traded higher, led by the sea transport industry.

The stocks that gained the most among the top 30 core Topix names were Fanuc 6954.T , up 4.01%, followed by Recruit Holdings 6098.T , rising 3.68%.

The underperformers among the Topix 30 were SoftBank Group, followed by Nintendo 7974.T losing 1.31%.

There were 207 advancers on the Nikkei index against 17 decliners.

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