Japan's Nikkei rallies after steep decline as focus turns to tech results
TOKYO, July 21 : Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Tuesday as markets reopened after a holiday and investors seized on bargains following the gauge's steepest weekly selloff in more than a year.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 advanced 3.26 per cent to close at 66,232.19, recovering part of its 6.4 per cent plunge last week. The broader Topix climbed 2.44 per cent to 4,014.95.
While Japanese markets were closed on Monday, Wall Street indexes edged lower as an escalation in the U.S.-Iran conflict put upward pressure on oil prices. The Nikkei accelerated gains in the afternoon on Tuesday, taking cues from the tech-heavy Kospi share gauge in South Korea.
Investor attention is now turning to second-quarter results due later this week from AI bellwethers including Alphabet, Tesla and Intel. Earnings for S&P 500 companies in the semiconductor and related sectors are forecast to rise 133 per cent for the second quarter from a year ago, according to LSEG.
"Compared to the sharp fall we saw in the latter half of last week, this technical rebound does not yet appear to have very strong momentum," said Wataru Akiyama, an equities strategist at Nomura Securities.
"Upcoming earnings announcements in Japan and the U.S., particularly those from major names, are likely to resolve some of this weakness in AI-related shares."
Breadth was overwhelmingly positive, with 187 advancers on the Nikkei 225 against 37 decliners and one unchanged.
The largest percentage gainers in the index were chipmaker Kioxia Holdings, up 17.18 per cent, followed by Ibiden, 11.03 per cent higher, and Socionext, which gained 9.11 per cent.
The largest losers were Nintendo, down 4.13 per cent, followed by Kikkoman, 2.49 per cent lower, and CyberAgent, which lost 2.36 per cent.
