Chip and pharmaceutical stocks push Nikkei higher

Japan’s Nikkei index rose strongly on Monday as investors repurchased stocks whose prices had fallen after the index recorded its worst weekly performance in 2023.

According to Reuters, the Nikkei rose 0.85% to end trading at 32,678.62 points. The broader Topix index also rose 0.39%

Last week, the Nikkei fell daily in a week in which trading sessions were shorter due to a holiday, but it witnessed important meetings of central banks, including the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) and the Bank of Japan on Friday. The Nikkei fell 3.37% last week, which constituted the worst weekly performance for the index this year.

The healthcare sector recorded the best performance in Monday’s session, rising 2.69%, driven by the advance of the best performing stock on the Nikkei index today, which is Daiichi Sankyo Company, which jumped 7.56%.

Technology stocks also recovered, tracking their American counterparts, from Friday. The shares of Advantest, a chip testing equipment company, rose 3.87%, and the shares of Screen Holdings, a chip manufacturing equipment company, rose 4.89%.

The stocks that rose last week witnessed a wave of selling on Monday, with the banking sector declining 2.62% and shipping 1.94%.