Tokyo stocks at 2-month high as lockdown-exit hopes spur cyclicals

SYDNEY, May 11 (Reuters) - Japanese shares hit a two-month
high on Monday, as economies prepare to reopen businesses from
coronavirus-induced lockdown and on positive cues from Wall
Street after U.S. data on historic job losses showed they were
slightly fewer than feared.
The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 climbed 1.4% to
20,466.58 points by the midday break. Earlier in the session,
the index rose as much as 1.8% to hit its highest since March 6.
Wall Street's three major indexes .DJI .SPX .IXIC jumped
on Friday after the April non-farm payrolls report proved dire,
but not quite as awful as analysts had feared. .N E-mini futures for the S&P 500 index ESc1 was last quoted
0.5% higher in Asian trade.
Global stocks have been rebounding since late March as
economic activities restarted businesses from the lockdown put
in place to curb the spread of the pandemic.
Japan last week extended the nationwide state of emergency
until the end of May, saying it would reassess the situation on
May 14 and possibly lift the measures earlier for some
prefectures. Among other nations, however, South Korea warned of a second
wave of the new coronavirus as infections rebounded to a
one-month high, while new infections accelerated in Germany.
"Investors seem to be determined to focus on the positive.
They cheered companies that could provide some sort of earnings
guidance and even took bad results as a sign of running out of
bad news," said Yasuo Sakuma, chief investment officer at Libra
Investments.
Sumco Corp 3436.T surged 5.8% even after the semiconductor
silicon wafer producer reported a 41.2% drop in operating profit
for the January-March quarter and forecast a 29.6% fall in the
January-June period. Minebea Mitsumi Inc 6479.T soared 6.9% as the bearing
manufacturer managed to give a full-year profit outlook for the
year through March 2021. "I think this trend will be accelerated if the Japanese
government decides to ease coronavirus restrictions in some
areas on May 14," said Libra's Sakuma.
The broader Topix .TOPX gained 1.4% to 1,479.33 by the
midday recess, also its highest level in two months, with all
but three of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo exchange in
positive territory.
Highly cyclical air transport .IAIR.T , sea transport
.ISHIP.T and iron and steel .ISTEL.T were the top three
performing sectors on the main bourse.