Japanese stocks advance as Trump voices hopes virus leveling-off

SYDNEY, April 6 (Reuters) - Japanese shares advanced on
Monday as markets were encouraged by a slowdown in coronavirus
deaths and new cases in U.S. hot spots, although uncertainty
about a potential lockdown in Tokyo kept some investors wary.
The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 rose 2.4% to 18,249.57
by the midday break, led by futures tagging sharp gains in U.S.
stock futures.
E-mini futures for the S&P 500 index ESc1 jumped as much
as 3.3% after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed hope the
country was seeing a "levelling off" of the coronavirus crisis
in hot spots. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will impose a state of
emergency as early as Tuesday in a bid to stop the coronavirus
spreading, the Yomiuri newspaper reported, as the cumulative
number of infections topped 1,000 in Tokyo alone.
Abe will likely announce his plans to declare the emergency
on Monday, the paper said, while the Kyodo news agency said new
measures would likely come into force on Wednesday. Some analysts said the government could declare a state of
emergency when it announces an economic stimulus package on
Tuesday to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The broader Topix .TOPX added 1.8% to 1,349.53 by the
midday recess, with all but four of the 33 sector sub-indexes on
the Tokyo Stock Exchange in positive territory.
Information and communication .ICOMS.T was the top
performing sector, rising 4.3% on hopes for growing demand for
data as more people work from home or stay at home due to the
coronavirus pandemic.
NTT Docomo Inc 9437.T climbed 6.0%, while KDDI Corp
9433.T and SoftBank Corp 9434.T gained 5.5% and 5.4%,
respectively.
Fujifilm Holdings Corp 4901.T jumped 6.1% to hit a record
high after Reuters and other media reported that Japan was
planning to boost stockpiles of the Avigan anti-flu drug, which
is being tested as a treatment for COVID-19 in China.
Denka Co Ltd 4061.T , which produces the raw chemicals used
to make Avigan, soared 14.6%.