Nikkei posts best daily gain in a month on easing Sino-US trade tensions

Published 12-12-2018, 12:22 pm
Updated 12-12-2018, 12:30 pm
© Reuters.  Nikkei posts best daily gain in a month on easing Sino-US trade tensions

* Investors scoop up auto, machinery, tech companies

* Yamaha Motor jumps after mid-term business plan

By Ayai Tomisawa

TOKYO, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei posted its biggest daily gain in more than a month on Wednesday as investors' risk appetite revived on positive developments in Sino-U.S. trade relations.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that China was buying a "tremendous amount" of U.S. soybeans and that trade talks with Beijing were under way by telephone, with more meetings likely among U.S. and Chinese officials. Nikkei share average .N225 soared 2.2 percent to 21,602.75 points, its biggest daily percentage gain since early November. It had ended at the lowest closing level since March in the previous session.

Also boosting market sentiment was news that Huawei Technologies' HWT.UL chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, was granted bail by a Canadian court on Tuesday, 10 days after her arrest in Vancouver at the request of U.S. authorities. good news in the market triggered a buying opportunity, but it doesn't mean that underlying problems have been resolved yet," said Shusuke Yamada, chief Japan FX and equity strategist at Bank Of America Merrill Lynch.

Yamada also said that Trump's threat to shut down the U.S. government, which dragged down Wall Street on Tuesday, was still a concern.

"It could be that Trump may not want to escalate trade matters further for now, when he wants to focus on internal politics," Yamada said.

"We can't let down our guard against the trade war yet," Yamada said.

All of the Topix's 33 subsectors were in positive territory. Recently battered large cyclical stocks such as automakers, machinery makers and electronics parts makers were bought.

Honda Motor 7267.T surged 2 percent, Komatsu Ltd 6301.T gained 2.2 percent, TDK Corp 6762.T soared 2.5 percent and Yaskawa Electric 6506.T advanced 2.1 percent.

Tech shares also gained ground. Advantest Corp 6857.T soared 2.5 percent and Hitachi Ltd 6501.T was up 3.1 percent.

Yamaha Motor 7272.T jumped 4.2 percent after it said in its mid-term business plan that it aims to post sales of 2 trillion yen ($17.7 billion) in the year ending March 2022.

For this fiscal year ending March 2019, the company forecast sales of 1.65 trillion yen.

The broader Topix .TOPX surged 2 percent to 1,606.61.

(Editing by Kim Coghill)

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