Japanese stocks track Wall Street gains

TOKYO (Archyde.com) – Japanese stocks rose on Wednesday for a second straight session, as technology heavyweights tracked gains in Wall Street overnight, while a recent decline in the yen helped boost automakers’ shares. The Nikkei index closed up 0.86 percent at 27,217.85 points, while the broader Topix index closed with an increase of 1.03 percent to 1915.15 points. “US Treasury yields were rising, so investors couldn’t buy growth stocks impulsively,” said Hideyuki Suzuki, general manager of investment research at SBI Securities. Shares of Fast Retailing, owner of clothing store Unilco, provided the biggest boost to the Nikkei, which rose 2.5%, followed by SoftBank Group, which invests in technology, which gained 1.44 percent. Shares of auto and auto parts companies led the gains in the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 sub-sector indices, which jumped 3.39 percent after the yen fell to its lowest level against the dollar in 20 years. Toyota Motor shares jumped 3.74 percent, the main supporter of the Topix index. Honda Motor Co. rose 3.59 percent. Chip-related heavyweight Tokyo Electron lost 1.25 percent, and Advantest fell 1.29%. 181 stocks advanced on the Nikkei index against 40 losers.