INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
TOKYO: Japan's Nikkei share average rebounded on Monday after investors covered their short positions on chip-related stocks, offsetting a
drop in financials that were hurt by lower US yields.
The Nikkei share average ended 0.7 per cent higher to 21,821.16
Last week, the benchmark index slipped 2.6 per cent, hit by a drop in oil prices and tech shares.
Analysts said that Nvidia Corp's dismal
earnings, which triggered the tech sell-off, were now priced into the Japanese market, with investors scooping up chip shares on the
dips.
Tokyo Electron rose 3.6 per cent, Advantest Corp added 2.2 per cent and Screen Holdings surged 3.7 per cent.
Index-heavyweight
SoftBank Group Corp, which tumbled 3.4 per cent on Friday because it invests in Nvidia through its Vision Fund, bounced 5.1 per cent.
Also
supporting sentiment was data showing Japan's exports rose 8.2 per cent in October, reversing the previous month's decline, analysts
It was slightly lower than a 9.0 per cent increase expected by economists in a Reuters poll.
"Last month, the market had expected a rise in
Japan's exports but they declined, so even though the October data missed market expectations, it was a reversal from the previous month
so it was a relief to the market," said Hikaru Sato, a senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities.
Elsewhere, knitting machine maker Shima
jumped 10 per cent after the company said it would buy back up to 1 million of its own shares for up to 4 billion yen.
But banking and
insurance tumbled 1.9 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively, after US yields fell when a top US Federal Reserve official said on Friday
that US interest rates were not far off the Fed's estimate of a neutral level, suggesting that the current tightening cycle may soon
end.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group sank 2.1 per cent to hit a 14-month low, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group shed 1.9 per cent and TD
Holdings declined 3.5 per cent.
Appetite for financial companies, which seek out high-yielding debt, was also soured by the 10-year Japanese
Government bond yield dropping to 0.090 per cent, its lowest since late August.
The broader Topix advanced 0.5 per cent to 1,637.61
