Japan shares track Wall St gains as chip sector rallies

* Chipmakers, electronics parts makers lead gains
* SoftBank Group up on hopes for T-Mobile & Sprint merger
approval
* Trading remains subdued ahead of corporate results

By Tomo Uetake
TOKYO, July 23 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks hit their highest
in more than a week on Tuesday, with the semiconductor sector
tracking Wall Street gains, though trading remained thin ahead
of the domestic earnings season.
The benchmark Nikkei share average .N225 rose 1.0% to
21,620.88, its highest close since July 12.
On Wall Street overnight, S&P 500 .SPX climbed 0.3%, a
shade below its July 15 record high close, while the Dow Jones
Industrial Average .DJI rose 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 0.7%. .N/C
Chip stocks gained globally on news U.S. President Donald
Trump agreed with top technology heads to make "timely"
decisions on whether U.S. companies could sell goods to China's
Huawei Technologies HWT.UL . Taking their cues from Wall Street peers, Japan's chip
sector drove gains with Tokyo Electron 8035.T climbing 3.0%
and Disco Corp 6146.T up 1.6 %.
Japanese semiconductor shares are highly correlated with the
U.S. Philadelphia chip index .SOX , which rose 2.0%.
"Everyone knows the upcoming earnings season will be
anything but rosy," said Toru Ibayashi, head of Japanese
equities at UBS Wealth Management in Tokyo.
"But Taiwanese TSMC's optimistic tone on chip demand,
coupled with Goldman Sachs' rating hike, raised investors' hopes
that commodity chips are bottoming out."
On Thursday, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC),
the world's largest contract chipmaker and supplier to Apple Inc
AAPL.O , said demand was likely to recover over the rest of the
year. Apple components makers were also in demand after the Wall
Street Journal reported that Apple Inc AAPL.O was in advanced
talks to buy chipmaker Intel Corp's INTC.O smartphone-modem
chip business, citing sources. Murata Manufacturing Co 6981.T , TDK Corp 6762.T and Alps
Alpine Co 6770.T advanced 2.5%, 2.2% and 2.3%, respectively.
Nikkei heavyweight SoftBank Group Corp 9984.T jumped 4.0%
after Fox Business reported U.S. regulators would approve the
postponed $26 billion merger between T-Mobile US Inc TMUS.O
and Sprint Corp S.N . Elsewhere, Akebono Brake Industry Co 7238.T extended its
stellar gains for the fourth consecutive trading day, surging
4.9%, on continued hopes for restructuring of the troubled car
parts maker's money-losing business. The broader Topix .TOPX added 0.8% to 1.568.82. Turnover
on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's main board was subdued at 1.66
trillion yen ($15.4 billion) versus the daily average of 2.34
trillion yen over the past year.
Japan's June quarter corporate earnings season kicks off
with Canon Inc 7751.T , Nidec Corp 6594.T and Shin-Etsu
Chemical Co 4063.T announcing results after the market close
on Wednesday.
($1 = 108.1100 yen)