Japan stocks edge higher; suspected BOJ and pension buying buoys Topix

March 17 (Reuters) - Japanese shares staged a mild recovery
on Tuesday, sidestepping a historic rout on Wall Street
overnight, with suspected buying by the Bank of Japan and public
pension funds lending broad support.
But overall sentiment was fragile, as lockdowns in Europe
and the United States to combat the spread of the coronavirus
fanned fears of further economic pain from the epidemic that has
battered global financial markets.
The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 closed 0.1% higher at
17,011.53 in choppy trading, having touched its lowest since
November 2016 earlier in the session.
The Nikkei's volatility index .JNIV , a measure of
investors' volatility expectations based on option pricing, fell
7.3% to 56.27, just below Monday's nine-year peak of 60.86.
The broader Topix .TOPX advanced 2.6% at 1,268.46, after
earlier falling to 1,199.25, its lowest since June 2016.
Although the mood was sober as Wall Street stocks saw their
worst day since 1987, hopes that the BOJ will buy more Exchanged
Traded Funds (ETFs) supported the broader market's move, traders
said. The BOJ pledged on Monday to buy ETFs "aggressively" at an
annual pace of up to 12 trillion yen ($113 billion), double the
previous amount, until markets stabilise. "I suspect the BOJ is buying ETFs this afternoon," said
Takehiko Masuzawa, head of sales trading for Japanese clients at
Macquarie Capital Securities.
Market players said the Government Pension Invest Fund
(GPIF) and other public pension funds could also have bought
stocks to rebalance portfolios following recent sell-offs.
All but two of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange traded higher, with paper and pulp .IPAPR.T ,
electricity and gas .IEPNG.T and fish and forestry .IFISH.T
being the top three performing sectors.
As more and more people stay home to slow the spread of the
coronavirus, game companies and food makers shone, with Nintendo
Co Ltd 7974.T jumping 5.9%, while Nichirei Corp 2871.T and
Yamazaki Baking Co Ltd 2212.T advanced 3.7% and 9.9%,
respectively.
On the downside, Nikkei heavyweight Fast Retailing Co Ltd
9983.T slumped 4.8% after the operator of Uniqlo clothing
stores said it will temporarily close all 50 Uniqlo outlets in
the United States due to the epidemic. Elsewhere, Japan's top oil and gas company Inpex Corp
1605.T slid 4.4% after crude oil futures CLc1 LCOc1 fell
below $30 a barrel on Monday. = 106.3600 yen)