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TOKYO — Japan’s Nikkei index touched a more than two-month high on Tuesday, as automakers led gains after the U.S. dollar hit fresh 20-year highs.
The Nikkei share average was up 0.4% at 28,024.40 by 0217 GMT, rising above the 28,000 level for the first time since March 31. The broader Topix rose 0.72% to 1,952.96.
“Automakers pushed the Nikkei above the 28,000-mark but it seems only limited amount of money is circulating around the market these days,” said Shoichi Arisawa, general manager of the investment research department at IwaiCosmo Securities.
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“The market has been struggling to rise in a broad rally and investors are targeting different sectors each day.”
The dollar jumped versus the yen as worries about persistent inflation pushed up U.S. bond yields.
That pushed up auto stocks such as Mazda Motor, climbing 4.44%. The stock was the top gainer on the Nikkei. Honda Motor rose 2.82% and Toyota Motor gained 1.64%. The auto and parts makers sub-index rose 1.95%.
The oil explorers’ sub-index advanced 3.24% to be the top gainer among the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 industry sub-indexes after oil prices inched higher.
Heavyweights chip-related stocks weighed on the Nikkei, with Tokyo Electron losing 1.66% and Advantest sliding 2.51%.
Drugmaker Sankyo Co declined 1.53% and weighed on the Topix.
There were 175 advancers on the Nikkei index against 43 decliners.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s main board was 0.57 billion, compared to the average of 1.34 billion in the past 30 days. (Reporting by Junko Fujita; editing by Uttaresh.V)
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