Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average Jumps Nearly 3％ as Chip Heavyweights Advance

Reuters

16:42 JST, September 26, 2024

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei share average jumped nearly 3% on Thursday as chip giants Tokyo Electron and Advantest tracked their U.S. peers higher and a weaker yen boosted exporters.

The Nikkei was up 2.79% at 38,925.63, its biggest daily percentage gain since Sept. 12. The benchmark has risen for five out of six sessions.

The broader Topix gained 2.66% to 2,721.12.

“Gains in U.S. chip stocks, particularly those of Micron’s, lifted Japanese chip shares,” said Kentaro Hayashi, a senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.

Shares of Micron Technology surged roughly 14% in after-hours trade on Wednesday after the company forecast higher-than-expected first-quarter revenue due demand for its memory chips used in artificial intelligence computing.

The yen fell to a three-week low of 145.04 per dollar earlier in the session. A weaker yen is seen as a boon for Japanese exporters as it lifts profits when earnings from abroad are brought home.

Chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron surged 8% and was the biggest boost to the Nikkei. Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest rose 5.39% and technology investor SoftBank Group climbed 4.1%.

Sony Group rose 3.38%.

Nitori, a home interior goods retailer that relies on imports for most materials and tends to move along with the yen, fell 0.6%.

Meanwhile, minutes from the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) July policy meeting were not hawkish, boosting investor sentiment, said Hayashi.

The minutes showed that BOJ policymakers were divided on how quickly the central bank should raise interest rates further, highlighting uncertainty on the timing of the next increase in borrowing costs.

At the July meeting, the BOJ unexpectedly raised short-term interest rates to 0.25% by a 7-2 vote, taking another step towards phasing out a decade of huge stimulus.

Of the more than 1,600 stocks trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s prime market, 96% rose and 3% fell on the day.