Japan stocks hit 2-1/2-week high on trade hopes, chip sector gains

* Benchmark Nikkei at highest since July 5
* Reports of U.S., China resuming trade talks improve mood
* Semiconductor stocks get fresh boost from TI's Q2 earnings
beat

By Hideyuki Sano and Tomo Uetake
TOKYO, July 24 (Reuters) - Japanese shares rose to
2-1/2-week highs on Wednesday after a news report that U.S. and
Chinese trade negotiators will meet in Shanghai next week
prompted investors to buy back cyclical plays, such as autos,
shippers and machinery makers.
The Nikkei share average .N225 rose 0.4% to 21,709.57, its
highest close since July 5, while the broader Topix .TOPX
gained 0.4% to 1,575.09.
Bloomberg reported that U.S. Trade Representative Robert
Lighthizer and senior U.S. officials will travel to Shanghai on
Monday for talks with Chinese officials. Shippers .ISHIP.T rose 1.0%, with Nippon Yusen KK 9101.T
climbed 1.5% while transport equipment makers .ITEQP.T added
1.1%.
Toyota Motor 7203.T rose 1.4% while Honda Motor 7267.T
gained 1.3%.
Nissan Motor 7201.T rose 1.0%, in line with its rivals,
following the company's plans to expand job cuts to more than
10,000 to help turn around its business. Semiconductor-related stocks continued to climb higher after
the sector got another boost from better-than-expected Texas
Instruments Inc's TXN.O quarterly results.
TI posted quarterly profit and revenue that beat Wall Street
estimates on Tuesday, providing some relief that a global
slowdown in microchip demand would not be as long as feared.
Sumco Corp 3436.T jumped 4.5%, Advantest Corp 6857.T
shot up 3.9%, hitting 11 1/2-year highs, and Screen Holdings Co
Ltd 7735.T climbed 2.6%.
"Washington is also easing its ban on China's Huawei
Technologies Co HWT.UL and the firm's global shipment of smart
phones looks pretty solid," said Nobuhiko Kuramochi, chief
strategist at Mizuho Securities.
"On the whole, investors are starting to think that the
semiconductor market will improve next year, due to building of
data centres and 5G etc and they are starting to buy
semiconductor shares."
Elsewhere, index heavyweight SoftBank Group Corp 9984.T
advanced 1.0% after the news, first reported by the Wall Street
Journal, that shared office space manager WeWork, in which
SoftBank Group invests, is looking to go public as soon as
September, earlier than previously expected. 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.