Japan’s Nikkei index ends higher on high-tech buying

Tokyo’s blue-chip shares ended higher Tuesday, driven by buying of high-tech shares, though the yen’s gyrations weighed on the market.

According to AFP, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 0.19 percent, or 51.51 points, to 27,787.98, after spending the day in a narrow band. The broader Topix index fell 0.23 percent, or 4.51 points, to 1,949.12.

Overnight gains on Wall Street buoyed the Nikkei from early trade, with investors picking up high-tech stocks following climbs on the Nasdaq.

“The market opened higher as investors cheered overnight gains of US shares, but profit-taking quickly kicked in and drove down the Nikkei into negative territory,” Okasan Online Securities said in a note.

“Investors started to pick up major blue-chip shares in afternoon trade and the Nikkei rebounded,” it said.

Some players maintained their cautious stance with the Ukraine situation staying grim and uncertain.

Recent gyration of the yen against the dollar received renewed attention and weighed on the market.

The dollar stood at 122.54 yen, zigzagging from 122.78 yen in New York overnight and 122.38 yen in Tokyo earlier Monday.

Global investors have been buying the dollar and dumping the yen as the US hikes interest rates, while Japan has kept its super-easy monetary policies.

A cheaper yen, for Japanese consumers, means higher cost of imports such as energy, which is already hit by global inflation and the war in Ukraine.

Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda voiced wariness about the yen’s recent moves.

Among major shares, Toyota rose 0.29 percent to 2,217.5 yen. Sony Group added 0.51 percent to 12,715 yen. Tech-investor SoftBank Group jumped 2.61 percent to 5,936 yen.

Advantest, which builds equipment to make semiconductors, rose 0.96 percent to 9,470 yen.

Uniqlo-operator Fast Retailing rose 2.06 percent to 62,510 yen.

Meanwhile, Nintendo dropped 0.77 percent to 63,250 yen. Nippon Steel fell 1.31 percent to 2,079.5 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 2.02 percent to 752.9 yen.

Aviation firm ANA Holdings fell 0.41 percent to 2,523.5 yen.