Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Wednesday, supported by a stronger Wall Street and a weaker yen, with blue chips such as Sony and Sharp gaining on strong earnings and lifting overall sentiment. The Nikkei was up 0.5 per cent at 22,672.63.okyo, Aug 1
“The gains by US shares and the yen's depreciation are supportive for the Nikkei. It has become easier for the market to focus on such supportive factors with the Bank of Japan's policy meeting over,” said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
The Dow climbed 0.43 per cent and the S&P 500 advanced roughly 0.50 per cent overnight, boosted by gains in industrial shares. The dollar traded around ¥111.76, having rallied from a low of ¥110.75 after the BOJ tweaked monetary policy on Tuesday but pledged to keep rates low for an extended period.
Reports that the Trump administration plans to propose slapping a 25 per cent tariff on $200 billion of Chinese imports, after initially setting them at 10 per cent, were taken in stride for now, with Chinese shares gaining and dollar/yen largely stable.
Robust corporate results from abroad and at home helped lift a variety of shares on Tuesday. Sony Corp rose 4.8 per cent after the company reported record first quarter profit thanks to a surge in the sales of game software.
Supported by strong sales of Switch game titles, Nintendo Co reported a better-than-expected 88 per cent jump in first quarter operating profit and the company's shares were up 5.6 per cent. Sharp Corp gained 6.2 per cent after its first quarter operating profit soared 45 per cent on the back of its core display business and strong sales of camera modules and sensors.
Apple-linked shares also advanced after the iPhone maker posted quarterly results that topped Wall Street targets and forecast above-expected revenue in the current quarter. Electronic component maker Kyocera Corp rose 6 per cent and display manufacturer Nitto Denko Corp added 5.5 percent.
Declining shares included semiconductor maker Renesas Electronics , which slumped more than 7 per cent. The company posted a rise in operating profit for the six months through June but forecast a decline for the year through December. The broader Topix gained 0.55 per cent to 1,762.92.
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