Japanese stocks rebounded on Tuesday, briefly hitting a 3-month high after gains on Wall Street and a steadily weakening yen wiped away risk-averse sentiment.
The Nikkei share average gained 1.2 per cent to end the day at 19,630.63. During mid-afternoon trading, the benchmark index briefly touched 19,726.01, its highest point since August 20.
Steel shares were the highlight of the day as the Topix subindex for iron and steel added 3.7 per cent. JFE Holdings led the sector with a gain of 6.8 per cent, while Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp rose 3.5 per cent.
The broader Topix rose 0.9 per cent to end the day at 1,586.11 with all but one of its 33 subindexes in positive territory.
The JPX-Nikkei Index 400 added 0.9 per cent to 14,289.50.