Nikkei index jumps 2.5% driven by strong financial results and ‎interest bets

Japan’s Nikkei index jumped today, Wednesday, exceeding the level of 33,000 points for the first time in about two months, thanks to strong corporate profits and bets on the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) easing its monetary policy.

According to Reuters, the Nikkei closed trading today up 2.52% at 33,519.70 points, with 159 of the total 225 stocks on the index rising, 64 falling, and two remaining stable. The broader Topix index also rose 1.19%

At the end of trading on Tuesday, the three major indices on Wall Street recorded strong gains, led by the Nasdaq index, which was dominated by technology stocks, which rose 2.13 percent, after weaker inflation data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve’s monetary tightening cycle had reached its peak. The Philadelphia Index of semiconductor manufacturing stocks rose 3.62 percent

Japanese Idemitsu Kosan Refinery shares recorded the largest percentage gains on the Nikkei Index, rising 18.29% after raising profit expectations and announcing the stock split.

This helped the index of shares of oil and coal production companies record the best performance among 33 sector sub-indices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, rising by 6.42%.

Semiconductor-related stocks recorded superior performance, as Advantest shares, which manufacture chip testing equipment, jumped 7.48%, and Tokyo Electron shares, which manufacture chip-making equipment, jumped 3.81%.

As for the stocks of financial institutions, they bore the brunt of the decline in US and local returns, which led to lower investment income expectations.

The insurance companies index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 1.85%, leading declines among sector indices, while the banking sector index fell 1.65%.