Japanese shares bounce back after U.S.-Iran anxiety eases

By Stanley White
TOKYO, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Japanese shares surged on Thursday,
recovering all the losses from the previous session, after the
United States and Iran signalled their desire to avoid further
military conflict.
At 0214 GMT, the Nikkei index was up 1.88% at 23,640.87. It
erased Wednesday's 1.57% decline, triggered by Iranian missile
attacks on facilities hosting U.S. military forces in Iraq in
retaliation to the U.S. killing of a prominent Iranian general
last week.
The attack initially roiled global financial markets as it
stoked fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.
However, markets regained their composure after U.S.
President Donald Trump said there were no casualties and the
United States did not necessarily have to hit back. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also said the
missile strike "concluded" Tehran's response to the U.S. killing
last week of Qassem Soleimani, who was responsible for building
Iran's network of proxy armies across the Middle East.
The technology and industrial sectors led the advance as
shares of electric parts maker Omron Corp 6645.T and
industrial robot maker Fanuc Corp 6954.T rose.
There were 217 advancers on the Nikkei index against seven
decliners on Thursday.
The largest percentage gainers in the index were
semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker Screen Holdings Co
Ltd 7735.T up 6.66%, followed by photography and medical
device maker Fujifilm Holdings Corp 4901.T gaining 5.71% and
technology investor SoftBank Group Corp 9984.T up by 4.91%.
The largest percentage losers in the index were oil and
natural gas developer Inpex Corp 1605.T down 3.45%, followed
by oil refiner JXTG Holdings Inc 5020.T losing 2.67%, and
engineering company JGC Holdings Corp 1963.T down by 1.27%.
The broader Topix index .TOPX rose 1.45% to 1,726.14.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board .TOPX was 0.51 billion, compared to the average of
1.12 billion in the past 30 days.