Japan’s Nikkei Up with Investors Hopeful about US-China Deal

JAPAN – The Japanese stock market ended on a positive note after it closed on Monday. Gains in real estate, paper, and railways helped push the Nikkei up.

The Nikkei 225 was up by 0.49% or 113.44 points after the close to land at 23,416,76. Meanwhile, the Topix ended the day 0.24% or 4.05 points. It’s 1,700.72 was higher than where it was on Friday.  The pharmaceutical and telecommunication sectors led the push as these industries rose by 1.3% and 0.9% respectively.

Among the top gainers of the day were pharmaceutical Eisai Co., Ltd. as it went up by 4.42%. Advantest Corp also enjoyed gains of 3.67% while Recruit Holdings Co Ltd. rose by 2.27%. Clothing chain Fast Retailing and the Softbank Group were also big winners today.

Line Corp and Z Holdings also enjoyed gains of 2.2% and 1.2% after the two companies announced their plans to merge right before the market opened. Their merger will reportedly lead to the formation of a $30 billion tech empire.

Some companies weren’t as fortunate though. DIC Corp slipped 4.07% while Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd dropped 3.40%. Toray Industries, Inc. also went down by 3.31%. However, the gainers outnumbered those that saw a decline on the Tokyo Stock Exchange 2046 to 1486. 222 remained unchanged.

The Nikkei started the day flat but showed signs of life when Hong Kong shares opened on a strong note. It eventually rose by more than one percent despite confrontations between state police and anti-government protesters. There was a bit of a slowdown in the afternoon but the Nikkei and Topix still rose steadily in the last few minutes of the trading day.

The buying fever started to be felt in the morning after the Dow Jones, Nasdaq, and the S&P 500 registered new highs as investors’ hopes for a US-China trade deal was renewed. The three major stock indexes in the US rallied on Friday as White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross remarked on a possible “phase one” deal signing.

The sentiment was reiterated by Xinhua. China’s state media claimed on Sunday that the two superpowers had “constructive talks” regarding trade occurred during a high-level phone conversation on Saturday. No details about the conversation were revealed.

One strategist from Toyo Securities Co, Hirohumi Yamamoto, said the positive reports regarding China and US trading also encouraged the buying of Japanese stocks. However, he noted that shares won’t progress further due to the instability in Hong Kong and the skepticism over negotiations between the United States and China.