Japan's Nikkei hits two-week high as tech shares track Nasdaq's record high
TOKYO, Oct 30 (Reuters) -Japan's Nikkei share average touched a two-week high on Wednesday, as technology stocks tracked Nasdaq's record closing high overnight.
The Nikkei .N225 was up 1.25% at 39,390.49 by the midday break, its highest level since Oct. 15.
The broader Topix .TOPX rose 1.13% to 2,712.26.
"There were not any strong market-moving cues and the momentum is not strong," said Fumio Matsumoto, chief strategist at Okasan Securities.
"Investors just bought back stocks that were sold last week for fears of political turmoil. Local equities had fallen despite a weaker yen."
The prospect that Japan's Liberal Democratic Party and its ruling coalition partner may lose their majority in the lower house of parliament pushed the Nikkei down 2.7% last week.
Overnight, the Nasdaq scored a record closing high and the S&P 500 rose on Tuesday, while the Dow fell as investors digested a host of corporate earnings and awaited Google-parent Alphabet's GOOGL.O results that came after the market close. .N
In Japan, chip-related shares rose, with Disco 6146.T surging 12.4% and Lasertec 6920.T up 5.17%.
Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest 6857.T rose 2.62% to provide the biggest boost to the Nikkei. Chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron 8035.T rose 1.19%.
Technology investor SoftBank Group 9984.T rose 2.84%.
Hino Motors 7205.T tanked 12.36% and was the biggest loser on the Nikkei. The truck maker flagged an annual net loss as it posted a 230 billion yen ($1.5 billion) extraordinary loss.
Drugmaker Chugai Pharmaceutical 4519.T lost 3.27% to weigh on the Nikkei the most. Home interior goods retailer Nitori Holdings 9843.T fell 1.23%.
Komatsu 6301.T lost 2.16% even as the construction equipment maker raised its annual operating profit forecast.
Of the 225 Nikkei components, 191 stocks rose and 34 fell.
($1 = 153.3300 yen)
Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Rashmi Aich
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