By Stanley White
TOKYO, July 21 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks rose on Tuesday
as signs of progress in developing a COVID-19 vaccine boosted
investor confidence in the outlook for future economic growth.
The Nikkei index was up 0.60% to 22,854.74 by 0203 GMT, with
the healthcare and technology sectors leading the advance.
Initial findings from trials of three potential COVID-19
vaccines have shown encouraging results, raising hopes for a
medical solution to a global pandemic that has triggered a sharp
recession and caused more than half a million deaths.
There were 63 advancers in the Nikkei index against 157
decliners on Tuesday.
The largest percentage gainers in the index were
pharmaceutical firm Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd 4568.T up 5.09%,
followed by silicon wafer maker Sumco Corp 3436.T gaining
4.61%, and Internet services firm Z Holdings Corp 4689.T up by
4.59%.
The largest percentage losses in the index were auto maker
Isuzu Motors Ltd 7202.T down 3.83%, followed by Taiheiyo
Cement Corp 5233.T losing 3.66%, and credit card firm Credit
Saison Co Ltd 8253.T down by 3.6%.
Shares of mobile phone network operators NTT Docomo Inc
9437.T , KDDI Corp 9433.T , and Softbank Corp 0434.T dropped
following a report that Japan's government is considering
preventing wireless carriers from charging customers fees when
they switch providers.
The broader Topix .TOPX rose 0.06% to 1,577.97.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board .TOPX was 0.53 billion, compared with the average
of 1.25 billion in the past 30 days.
(Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)