Japan stocks end higher as tech sector back in favour

By Stanley White
TOKYO, March 12 (Reuters) - Japanese shares rose for a
fourth straight session on Friday, as technology stocks bounced
back while expectations that low interest rates and big fiscal
spending would continue to support global economic growth kept
investor sentiment supported.
The Nikkei 225 Index .N225 ended up 1.73% at 29,717.83.
The broader Topix .TOPX rose 1.36% to 1,951.06. For the week,
the Nikkei and Topix gained nearly 3% each.
Technology and energy shares rebounded from recent losses
following their U.S. peers, but that was partly offset by
selling in the real estate and financial sectors.
Overall sentiment remained positive because of strong
expectations that the global economic growth will accelerate as
more countries vaccinate their citizens for the novel
coronavirus.
"Japanese stocks are still in an upward trend, but the U.S.
economy is bouncing back so quickly that eventually the Federal
Reserve will have to start talking about tapering bond
purchases," said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at
Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
"When that happens, we will see an 8%-10% correction in
Japanese stocks, but the market will quickly bounce back because
global growth is getting stronger."
Shares in e-commerce company Rakuten Inc 4755.T jumped by
8.64% after reports it would form a capital alliance with Japan
Post Holdings Co 6178.T , whose shares rose 4.89%.
Start-up investor SoftBank Group Corp 9984.T rose 3.35%
after South Korean e-commerce company Coupang CPNG.N , in which
SoftBank holds a 35.1% stake, was valued at around $109 billion
in its debut on Thursday. Singapore-based ride hailing company Grab Holdings Inc,
which is also backed by SoftBank, is in talks to go public
through a merger that could value the company at nearly $40
billion, people said.
The underperformers among the Topix 30 were Astellas Pharma
Inc 4503.T , down 0.68%, followed by Tokio Marine Holdings Inc
8766.T , losing 0.43%.
There were 156 advancers on the Nikkei index
against 67 decliners on Friday.