Japanese shares hit fresh 30-year high on robust corporate earnings

TOKYO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Japanese shares rose sharply on
Monday, with both Nikkei and Topix hitting 30-year highs, as
strong corporate earnings lifted investor confidence for an
economic recovery from pandemic lows.
The Nikkei share average .N225 jumped 2.09% to 29,380.12
by 0210 GMT, the highest level since August 1990, while the
broader Topix .TOPX rose 1.75% to 1,923.96, the highest since
June 1991.
"With the vaccine rollouts and the fall in the number of
daily COVID-19 infections, expectations for normalization of the
economy is rising," said Soichiro Matsumoto, chief investment
officer Japan at Credit Suisse Private Banking.
"Better-than-expected corporate performance in this
environment is also lifting sentiment. Many U.S. firms have
reported upbeat results and Japanese companies, particularly
those sensitive to overseas demand, are following suit."
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes on Friday scored their
biggest weekly percentage gains since early November, powered by
earnings optimism and progress on vaccine rollouts, while
Democrats cleared the path for the approval of President Joe
Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. .N At home, steel makers led Nikkei's gains, with Kobe Steel
5406.T surging 13.94% on raising its full-year outlook and
Nippon Steel 5401.T jumping 9.1% after trimming its annual net
loss forecast. JFE Holdings 5411.T rose 6.57%. Toyota Motor 7203.T gained 1.67% ahead of its earnings
report on Tuesday. Its autoparts affiliates Denso 6902.T and
Aisin Seiki 7259.T , up 1.56% and 2.89% each, had raised their
outlook last week.
Railway shares continued to gain, with Odakyu Electric
Railway 9007.T jumping 4.57%, Keio 9008.T rising 4.61% and
East Japan Railway 9020.T gaining 4.09%.
The stocks that gained the most among the top 30 core Topix
companies were SoftBank Group 9984.T , which is set to report
earnings on Monday, rising 5.81%, followed by Daikin Industries
Ltd 6367.T gaining 4.96%.
The underperformers among the Topix 30 were Sony Corp
6758.T , falling 1.81%, followed by Daiichi Sankyo 4568.T ,
which lost 0.86%.