Japanese stocks extend rally on trade hopes, fiscal stimulus talk

By Stanley White
TOKYO, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks rose for a fourth
consecutive session on Wednesday as expectations grow for the
United States and China to close in on an agreement to scale
back their bruising trade war.
At 0148 GMT the Nikkei index was up 0.38% at 23,463.22, with
advancers including automakers and retailers in the consumer
discretionary sector. So far this year, the index is up 16.78%.
Japanese shares extended gains, in line with a rally in
equities globally, after U.S. President Donald Trump said on
Tuesday that Washington was in the "final throes" of work on a
deal that would defuse a 16-month trade war with Beijing.
Trump's optimistic comments came one day after top
negotiators from the two countries spoke by telephone and agreed
to keep working on remaining issues. Domestically, Japanese stocks also drew support from the
growing chance of extra fiscal stimulus. A senior ruling party
official on Wednesday said he believes the government is
striving to compile a stimulus spending package worth around 10
trillion yen ($92.05 billion). Japanese politicians have been calling for more fiscal
spending to revive slowing growth. There were 166 advancers on the Nikkei index against 56
decliners on Wednesday.
The largest percentage gainers in the index were
semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker Screen Holdings Co
Ltd 7735.T up 3.87%, followed by property developer Tokyo
Tatemono Co Ltd 8804.T gaining 3.01% and audio component maker
Yamaha Corp 7951.T up by 2.99%.
The largest percentage losses in the index were Shinsei Bank
Ltd 8303.T down 1.87%, followed by advertising agency Dentsu
Inc 4324.T losing 1.60% and Internet services firm Z Holdings
4689.T down by 1.57%.
The Topix index .TOPX rose 0.33% on Monday to 1,711.26.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board .TOPX was 0.41 billion, compared to the average of
1.29 billion yen in the past 30 days.
($1 = 108.6400 yen)

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UPDATE 3-U.S.-China trade deal close, Trump says; negotiations
continue govt striving for 10-trln-yen extra budget - LDP official
ruling bloc calls for $92 bln fiscal package to support
growth ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>