Japan’s Nikkei Up Sharply as Chip-Related Stocks Rally (Update 1)

Reuters

12:11 JST, December 6, 2023 (updated at 16:00 JST)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei share average rose sharply on Wednesday, erasing losses from the previous three sessions as investors bought back beaten-down chip-related stocks.

The Nikkei index jumped 2.04% to close at 33,445.90, posting its biggest daily gains since Nov. 15. The broader Topix rose 1.9% to 2,387.20.

“Overnight gains on the Nasdaq and declines in U.S. Treasury yields prompted investors to buy back chip and other technology stocks which were oversold in the previous session,” said Shoichi Arisawa, general manager of the investment research department at IwaiCosmo Securities.

On Tuesday, the Nasdaq gained 0.31%, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average fell as fresh employment data bolstered bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates as soon as March.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell to three-month lows. US/

“With the declines in the previous session, the Nikkei has adjusted its pace of gains after posting a sharp rally last month,” IwaiCosmo’s Arisawa said.

The Nikkei posted its steepest drop in nearly six weeks on Tuesday as elevated U.S. Treasury yields triggered a heavy sell-off in highly-leveraged chip-related firms such as Advantest.

Chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron rose 2.2% and chip-testing equipment maker Advantest gained 3%.

Other chip-related stocks rose, with Lasertec and Shin-Etsu Chemical up 5.39% and 3.15%, respectively.

Sakura Internet surged 12.09%, marking a sharp rally for the third consecutive session as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said this week the U.S. semiconductor giant would work with Japanese companies such as Sakura Internet to build artificial intelligence factories for Japan.

Shares of the cloud service provider have gained a whopping 93% in the past month.

Of the 225 Nikkei components, 218 stocks rose, six fell and one remained unchanged.