Japan Nikkei gains on bargain hunting, weaker yen

Japan stock market finished higher for the first time in three consecutive sessions on Thursday, 05 August 2021, as investors chased for value buying on upbeat earnings reports and yen depreciation to upper 109-level against greenback

At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average inclined 144.04 points, or 0.52%, to 27,728.12. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 7.55 points, or 0.39%, to 1,928.98.

Trading volume turnover in the 1st section decreased to 955 million shares from 1,074 million shares in previous session. Trading value turnover decreased to 2,206.56 billion yen from 2,438.09 billion yen in previous session.

Total 18 of 33 sectors sub-indexes on the Tokyo exchange ended up, with top advancing sectors were Marine Transportation (up 9.5%), Iron & Steel (up 2.1%), Precision Instruments (up 1.7%), Insurance (up 1.2%), and Machinery (up 1%), while bottom performing sectors included Pulp & Paper (down 1.7%), Construction (down 1.4%), Air Transportation (down 1.1%), Mining (down 1%), and Nonferrous Metals (down 0.5%).

Shares of shipping firms soared, reflecting rises in freight, with Nippon Yusen sky-rocketing 13% after reports that it had revised upward its earnings prediction for the year through March, lifting its net profit outlook by 42.9% from the earlier estimate last month. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines ended up 7% and Kawasaki Kisen rose 6.7%.

Energy-related shares went down sharply after a large overnight drop in crude oil futures during New York trading amid fears that the demand would fall off due to the growing COVID-19 pandemic. Oil explorer Index dropped 1%, and Japan Petroleum Exploration fell 1.5%.

Among individual stocks, Sony Corp shares climbed up after it reported a better-than-expected first-quarter operating profit. Honda was up after the automaker upgraded its full-year forecast as it returned to the black in the first quarter.

Telecom operator SoftBank Corp closed up after it reported an operating profit mostly in line with market expectations.

Rakuten shares soared after it announced a business partnership with Germany-based 1&1 on a mobile network. The deal involves sales of Rakuten's low-cost 5G technology to the German company with a price tag of 250 billion yen.

CURRENCY NEWS: The dollar fetched 109.65 yen in Asian trade, up from 109.48 yen in New York and 108.98 yen in Tokyo on Wednesday.

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