TOKYO, Dec 26 (Reuters) – Japanese stocks closed higher on Monday, helped by Wall Street’s strength in the previous session, with heavyweight technology and energy stocks leading gains while a decline in banks and insurance weighed on the market.
The Nikkei stock moving average (.N225) was up 0.65% to close at 26,405.87, while the broader Topix (.TOPX) was up 0.24% to 1,902.52.
“Japanese stocks rose as US stocks rose late last week, but trading is very quiet as most participants in the US and Europe are away on vacation,” said Shuji Hosoi, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.
Heavyweight Fast Retailing (9983.T), owner of the Uniqlo brand, rose 2.0% and chip manufacturing equipment maker Tokyo Electron (8035.T) rose 2.22%. Air conditioner maker Daikin Industries (6367.T) rose 1.39%.
The surge in oil prices sent the Oil Explorers Index (.IMING.T) up 2.5%, making it the top performer among the 33 industry sub-indices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Inpex (1605.T) is up 2.53%.
The crude oil refineries index (.IPETE.T) gained 1.33%, with Idemitsu Kosan (5019.T) gaining 2.81%.
The banking sector slipped 1.35% after rising more than 10% so far this month on expectations of higher gains after the central bank last week allowed the 10-year government bond yield to rise from 0.25% last week rose to 0.5%. The 10-year JGB yield was last at 0.445%.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (8316.T) lost 2.21%, while Resona Holdings (8308.T) fell 2.75%.
The insurance sector (.IEPNG.T) fell 1.37%.
“The 10-year government bond yield is hovering below the upper end of the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) policy band, prompting a sell-off in bank stocks,” Hosoi said.
In the Nikkei index, 158 climbers faced 60 relegators.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was 0.85 billion compared to the average of 1.25 billion over the past 30 days.
Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Comments are closed.