Tokyo Stocks ended higher Tuesday as exporters were buoyed by the yen’s depreciation against the U.S. dollar, although gains were limited by sharp declines among chip-related shares.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended up 178.40 points, or 0.47 percent, from Monday at 38,288.62. The broader Topix index finished 19.39 points, or 0.73 percent, higher at 2,680.80.
On the top-tier Prime Market, climbs were led by pulp and paper, mining and transportation equipment issues.
The dollar rose into the upper 144 yen range as it was bought back after a rapid fall the previous day with speculation growing that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates in the near term, dealers said.
On the stock market, heavyweight technology shares such as Tokyo Electron and Advantest led drops on the Nikkei index from the morning following an overnight plunge in a key U.S. semiconductor index, briefly sending the benchmark below the 38,000 threshold.
But the Nikkei trimmed its losses and moved into positive territory in the afternoon as a slew of exporter-oriented issues were bought on the back of the yen’s depreciation, analysts said. A weaker yen boosts exporters’ overseas profits when repatriated.
Sentiment was additionally supported after the Dow Jones ended at a record high overnight, they added.
“Investors also took a wait-and-see approach amid a lack of major trading cues ahead of the release of the earnings report by (U.S. chips giant) Nvidia Corp.,” on Wednesday, said Kazuo Kamitani, a strategist in the Investment Content Department of Nomura Securities Co.
==Kyodo