Japan stocks rise most in a week as U.S. stimulus bets gather steam

By Stanley White
TOKYO, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Japanese shares on Tuesday gained
the most in a week on hopes of additional U.S. fiscal stimulus
to bolster the world's largest economy, as major countries
struggle to break free from the impact of the coronavirus
crisis.
The Nikkei 225 Index .N225 ended up 1.88% at 22,750.24,
the biggest daily gain since Aug. 3. Industrial and consumer
discretionary shares lead the gains. The broader Topix index
.TOPX rose 2.54%.
U.S. congressional leaders and officials in President Donald
Trump's administration said on Monday that they were ready to
resume negotiations on a coronavirus aid deal. Trump signed executive orders restoring some unemployment
payments and suspending payroll taxes on Saturday after talks
stalled, highlighting the struggle to reach consensus.
Some investors are betting that U.S. Republicans and
Democrats will eventually agree a comprehensive stimulus
package, which supported Japanese stocks.
"The clock is ticking for a U.S. stimulus deal, but
investors remain optimistic about developments in the United
States," said Kiyoshi Ishigane, chief fund manager at Mitsubishi
UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co.
The stocks that gained the most among the top 30 core Topix
names were property developer Mitsubishi Estate Co Ltd 8802.T ,
up 7.2%, followed by Honda Motor Co Ltd 7267.T gaining 6.38%.
The underperformers among the Topix 30 were mobile operator
and venture capitalist SoftBank Group Corp 9984.T down 2.45%,
followed by games maker Nintendo Co Ltd 7974.T losing 0.83%.
After the closing bell, Softbank reported a 12% rise in net
income in the first quarter but did not report operating profit,
saying it was "not useful" as a measure of its investment
performance. There were 204 advancers in the Nikkei index against 19
decliners.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board .TOPX was 1.38 billion, compared with the average
of 1.2 billion in the past 30 days.

(Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Rashmi Aich)