Japanese shares rally on hopes of earnings recovery, chip output hike

  • Reuters
  • Stock Market News
Japanese shares rally on hopes of earnings recovery, chip output hike
Credit: © Reuters.

TOKYO, April 2 (Reuters) - Japanese shares rallied on Friday, on hopes of earnings recovery and gains in semiconductor-related shares as they look to raise their outputs to deal with a global shortage of chips.

The Nikkei share average .N225 rose 1.13% to 29,720.62, reaching its highest level in two weeks. The broader Topix .TOPX added 0.57% to 1,968.76.

"We are entering a phase where the stock market rallies even as interest rates rise because of strong earnings growth. This stage will eventually lead to an overheated market but we are not there yet," said Masayuki Kubota, chief strategist at Rakuten Securities.

Nippon Electric Glass 5214.T rose 3.9% after the manufacturer of glass products used for cars and flat panel displays revised up its earnings outlook, citing stronger shipments. related shares continued to lead the market as the industry looks set to boost manufacturing amid a global shortage of chips. 6857.T gained 3.4%, while Tokyo Electron 8035.T rose 2.8% and Screen Holdings 7735.T added 2.7%.

The bullish sentiment was also fuelled by U.S. President Joe Biden's $2 trillion spending plan that included a call to spend $50 billion in chip manufacturing and other technology research, said Fumio Matsumoto, chief strategist at Okasan Securities.

The broader electronic machinery sector also gained, with Sony Group 6758.T rising 4.3%, while strength in global tech shares supported Softbank Group 9984.T , which rose 3.6%.

Automakers were another bright spot, drawing additional help from the yen's decline in recent weeks.

Mazda Motor 7261.T gained 2.7%, while Suzuki Motor 7269.T rose 2.1%.

On the other hand, investors rotated out of value shares, which had seen sharp recovery in the past couple of months, such as shippers .ISHIP.T .

Nippon Yusen 9101.T dropped 2.6%, while Mitsui OSK Lines 9104.T lost 1.9%.

Value shares underperformed, with Topix value .TOPGV rising just 0.15%, compared with 1.0% gains in Topix Growth .TOPXG .

Add Chart to Comment

Comment Guidelines

We encourage you to use comments to engage with users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind: 

  • Enrich the conversation
  • Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
  • Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically.
  •  Use standard writing style. Include punctuation and upper and lower cases.
  • NOTE: Spam and/or promotional messages and links within a comment will be removed
  • Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user.
  • Don’t Monopolize the Conversation. We appreciate passion and conviction, but we also believe strongly in giving everyone a chance to air their thoughts. Therefore, in addition to civil interaction, we expect commenters to offer their opinions succinctly and thoughtfully, but not so repeatedly that others are annoyed or offended. If we receive complaints about individuals who take over a thread or forum, we reserve the right to ban them from the site, without recourse.
  • Only English comments will be allowed.

Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.

Drop an image here or Supported formats: *.jpg, *.png, *.gif up to 5mb

Error: File type not supported

Drop an image here or

100
Please try another search