Japanese Shares Rise on Weaker Yen, Demand for High-Dividend Stocks (Update 1)

Reuters

12:25 JST, March 27, 2024 (updated at 17:00 JST)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese shares closed higher on Wednesday, as a weaker yen boosted exporters, while retail investors scooped up stocks set to go ex-dividend after the current session.

The Nikkei rose 0.9% to 40,762.73, while the broader Topix climbed 0.66% to 2,799.28.

“The yen weakened after an official of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) spoke,” said Shuutarou Yasuda, a market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory.

BOJ board member Naoki Tamura said the central bank must proceed slowly but steadily towards normalizing its ultra-loose monetary policy.

“Tamura was seen in the market as a hawkish official but what he said today was within what BOJ Governor (Kazuo) Ueda had said previously,” Yasuda said.

The yen JPY=EBS hit its lowest level since mid-1990, prompting Japan’s finance minister to issue his strongest warning.

Shunichi Suzuki said authorities could take “decisive steps,” language used in autumn 2022 when Japan last intervened in the market to stem weakness in its currency.

A softer yen helps exporters as it increases the value of overseas profits in yen terms when firms repatriate them to Japan.

Japanese stocks also rose due to demand for shares with higher dividend payouts, strategists said.

Uniqlo-brand owner Fast Retailing rose 1.23% to become the biggest boost for the Nikkei. Air-conditioning maker Daikin Industries climbed 2.82%.

Banks boosted the Topix, with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rising 1.5% and 0.35%, respectively.

Property developers jumped 2.36% after a government survey showed the country’s land prices rose at the fastest pace in 33 years in 2023.

Sumitomo Realty & Development jumped 5.24%, making it the top performer on the Nikkei, followed by Tokyo Tatemono, which rose 4.8%.

The index was the top performer among the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 industry sub-indexes.