Japan’s Nikkei Follows Wall Street Higher; Fed Policy Meeting This Week

(CTN News) – On Tuesday, Japan’s Nikkei share average traded higher, tracking Wall Street’s overnight gain, as investors awaited the US Federal Reserve’s two-day yen meeting outcome.

Amid a rising Nikkei at the midday break, the broader Topix advanced 2.01% to 2,740.54, while the Nikkei climbed 1.38% to 38,459.01.

The US equities have been strong since the end of last week, while the US yields have traded lower since the end of the week. According to Shuji Hosoi, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities, this situation underpinned the Japanese stock market today.”.

There were no markets open on Monday in Japan due to the holiday.

The stock price of chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron rose 2.69 percent on the day.

The stock of silicon-wafer maker Shin-Etsu Chemical surged 4.4% while the stock of technology investor SoftBank Group increased 1.8%.

After Japan’s currency surged to a 34-year low of 160.245 on Monday, the markets’ focus is now on the US Fed’s policy meeting this week after the yen surged as high as 5 yen against the dollar from a fresh 34-year low of 160.245 in what traders cited as an intervention by the Bank of Japan.

Whether yesterday’s intervention that the market thought was a success or not cannot be determined based on the market’s reaction.

This is due to the fact that the yen could spike 160 to the dollar again if the Fed’s message after its meeting is hawkish,” Hosoi, of Daiwa, said.

The Japanese authorities have not confirmed that they have intervened in the foreign exchange market to support the yen in order to stabilize the currency.

There has been a significant rise in the shares of KFC Holdings, which gained 6.49%, after local media reported that the US buyout fund Carlyle is close to acquiring Kentucky Fried Chicken, the operator of Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants.

The share price of Sumitomo Corp jumped 7% after a report revealed that a US fund Elliott purchased a “large stake” in the trading company. There were 188 stocks on the Nikkei that rose, whereas 27 stocks fell out of the 225 components.

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