Japan stocks track Wall Street higher, hit over 1-year peak on trade cheer

By Stanley White
TOKYO, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks hit their highest
level in more than a year on Tuesday, tracking a record closing
high on Wall Street on renewed optimism over the U.S.-China
trade deal.
At 0153 GMT, the Nikkei index .N225 rose 0.29 % to
24,022.95, with the healthcare and communications sectors
leading the gains. Earlier in the session, the benchmark index
reached its highest level since Oct. 4, 2018. It is up 20.03% so
far this year.
U.S. National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow on
Monday said a "phase one" deal was "absolutely completed" and
reiterated comments made by U.S. Trade Representative Robert
Lighthizer that U.S. exports to China will double in exchange
for a reduction in U.S. tariffs.
Chinese officials have been more cautious, emphasising that
the trade dispute has not been completely settled.
Investors are betting that the trade deal, which is expected
to be signed in the first week of January, will finally
de-escalate a trade row that had dragged on for more than a
year, making it the biggest risk to the global economic outlook.
The de-escalation of the trade war is also a positive for
earnings of Japanese exporters.
There were 126 advancers on the Nikkei index, against 91
decliners on Tuesday.
The largest percentage gainers in the index were chemicals
maker Tosoh Corp 4042.T up 5.21%, followed by oil producer
Inpex Corp 1605.T gaining 3.24% and healthcare firm M3 Inc
2413.T up by 3.24%.
The largest percentage losers in the index were ad agency
Dentsu Inc 4324.T down 4.47%, followed by video game maker
Bandai Namco Holdings Inc 7832.T losing 2.19% and ship builder
Mitsui E&S Holdings Co Ltd 7003.T down 1.8%.
The broader Topix index .TOPX rose 0.26% to 1,741.32, also
reaching the highest since Oct. 10, 2018.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board .TOPX was 0.51 billion, compared to the average of
1.24 billion in the past 30 days.