Japan shares gain as tankan less downbeat than expected, Navarro eases trade fears

By Tomo Uetake
TOKYO, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks rose on Tuesday as
deterioration in the Bank of Japan's tankan survey was less than
expected, and gains were led by blue-chip exporters and
Apple-related shares.
The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 advanced 0.6% to
21,885.24, while the broader Topix .TOPX climbed 1.0% to
1,603.00, with all but two of its 33 subindexes finishing
higher.
Japanese big manufacturers' business confidence worsened to
a six-year low in the July-September quarter, a central bank
survey showed, a sign the bitter U.S.-China trade war is taking
a heavier toll on the export-reliant economy. "The tankan survey was positive, with the headline
manufacturing reading well above consensus and only slightly
down from three months ago," said John Vail, chief global
strategist at Nikko Asset Management.
"Overall, it is good news for risk markets that Japanese
companies are not pessimistic given all the external concerns,"
Vail said by adding that the outlook for both manufacturing and
non-manufacturing was also in positive territory.
Blue-chip exporters were high, with Honda Motor 7267.T ,
Panasonic 6752.T and Bridgestone Corp 5108.T advancing 2.5%,
2.9% and 2.2%, respectively.
On Monday, Wall Street stocks rallied, with all three major
indexes rising, helped by gains in Apple Inc
AAPL.O . .N/C Apple rose 2.4% after chief executive Tim Cook
told a German daily that sales of its newest iPhones were off to
a strong start, while JPMorgan raised its forecast for shipment
volumes. Tokyo-listed Apple-related shares were in demand on Tuesday.
Murata Manufacturing Co 6981.T , TDK Corp 6762.T and Minebea
Mitsumi 6479.T jumped 2.8%, 2.7% and 4.7%, in that order.
On Monday, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro dismissed
reports that the Trump administration was considering delisting
Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges as "fake news", also
giving investors an excuse to buy back risk assets. By sector, paper and pulp .IPAPR.T , rubber products
.IRUBR.T and sea transport .ISHIP.T were among the top
performing subsector indexes on the Topix, up 2.8%, 2.3% and
2.1%, respectively.

(Edited by Richard Borsuk)