Japan Stocks rise for second straight day on softer yen, upbeat lead

The Japan share market finished higher second straight day on Thursday, 20 February 2020, helped by tracking rallies on Wall Street overnight, a cheaper Yen, and optimism that China would take more measures to prop up its economy and to help coronavirus-stricken businesses. At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average advanced 78.45 points, or 0.34%, to 23,479.15, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 2.62 points, or 0.16%, at 1,674.48.

Total 21 issues of the 33 industry category of Topix index inclined into positive territory, with Mining, Transportation Equipment, Pulp & Paper, Insurance, Oil & Coal Products, and Securities & Commodities Futures issues being notable gainers, while Retail Trade, Iron & Steel, Land Transportation, and Air Transportation issues were notable losers.

Tokyo Stocks held gains on tracking gains on Wall Street overnight after the release of minutes from U.S. Federal Reserve's last policy meeting, which showed policymakers were cautiously optimistic about their ability to hold interest rates steady this year while acknowledging new risks caused by the virus outbreak and of tensions in the Middle East. Policy makers emphasized their intention to provide some stability for markets and the economy for a time after cutting rates three times in succession last year.

Expectations are also high that China and other central banks around the world will limit the economic damage through injections of cash into markets, lower interest rates and other stimulus measures

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology launched fresh measures to support local businesses that are struggling because of the coronavirus outbreak. of several steps that Beijing and local Chinese authorities have taken to limit the economic fallout of the coronavirus, which has sickened 75,000 people and claimed more than 2,000 lives.

Shares of Japanese exporters rallied, as a weaker local currency boosts corporate profits when they are repatriated. The yen dived to its lowest level since early May versus the dollar of 111.60 yen overnight. Toyota Motor Corp climbed 2.3%, while Honda Motor Co Ltd advanced 2.7% and Mazda Motor Corp added 2.3%.

SoftBank Group jumped 3.8% after the tech conglomerate said it plans to borrow up to 500 billion yen ($4.5 billion) from 16 domestic and foreign financial institutions using almost a third of its stake in telco SoftBank Corp as collateral.

Maeda Road Construction dropped 5.8% after the company said it plans to pay a special dividend of 53.6 billion yen to counter a takeover bid by its biggest shareholder Maeda Corp.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Japanese yen, often viewed as a safe-haven currency in times of economic uncertainty, depreciated against a basket of currencies. The Dollar fetched 111.15 yen in Asian trade, against 111.29 yen in New York and 110.04 yen in Tokyo on Wednesday.

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