The Nikkei 225 Index gained 0.6% and logged its longest winning streak in about a month. Year-to-date, it is down 4.2%. The broader Topix gauge rose about 0.1%.
Chip-sector heavyweights Sumco and Tokyo Electron surged 11% and 4.8%, respectively, on optimism that a U.S.-China agreement will lead to the lifting of Chinese export curbs on rare earth minerals critical to high-tech sectors.
Sumco was the biggest gainer on the Nikkei, followed by Socionext, which gained 6.3%.
Mazda Motor climbed 1.2% as the yen weakened, boosting exporters’ shares.
The biggest loser on the Nikkei was Hino Motors, which slid 18% to log its steepest daily percentage decline since October 2023. The truckmaking unit of Toyota Motor said on Tuesday it would issue new shares as part of a merger agreement with Mitsubishi Fuso. U.S. President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff spats have largely been factored into global equity prices, but Japanese stocks have yet to recover to highs seen around the beginning of the year, said Tatsunori Kawai, chief strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ eSmart Securities.
Following next week’s meetings of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and the Federal Reserve, Japan’s summer bonuses and company dividends could be key catalysts driving domestic shares higher.
“With those funds in the pipeline, I think the inflow of money into the market will continue,” Kawai said.
“After we get through next week, I think it’s basically easier to go higher and catch up with U.S. equities.”
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