Nikkei ends at one-week high on Wall Street rally, weaker yen

TOKYO, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Japanese shares ended higher on
Tuesday as investor sentiment was lifted by a tech-led overnight
rally on Wall Street, and a softer yen propped up exporters.
The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 gained 1.7% to
22,573.66, its highest close since July 28, while the broader
Topix .TOPX jumped 2.14% to 1,555.26.
All 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo exchange finished
trading in positive territory, led by highly cyclical airlines
.IAIRL.T , land transport .IRAIL.T and shippers .ISHIP.T .
Overnight, Wall Street rallied as strong U.S. manufacturing
data and gains in tech-related stocks boosted risk appetite,
with the Nasdaq settling at a record closing high.
An industry gauge released on Monday indicated U.S.
manufacturing activity expanded in July at the fastest pace in
more than a year. Shares of export-oriented automobile makers got a boost from
a weaker yen, which edged further away from a 4-1/2-month high
hit last week against the dollar.
Mazda Motor 7261.T surged 10.59%, while Mitsubishi Motor
7211.T and Nissan Motor Co 7201.T rallied 7.18% and 6.61%,
respectively.
Individual stocks with better-than-expected earnings results
also provided a tailwind, prompting investors to lean towards
risk-on mood, said Shuji Hosoi, senior market strategist
at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo.
Suzuki Motor 7269.T rose 7.67% on better-than-expected
earnings.
While the automaker posted a 1.3 billion yen operating
profit, its worst quarterly performance on record, it was still
better than a consensus forecast for a loss of 38 billion yen
drawn from six analysts polled by Refinitiv. Food company Kikkoman Corp 2801.T jumped 14.11% to its
daily limit on stay-at-home demand hopes, despite a 12.8%
decline in April-June net profit.
Nikkei heavyweight SoftBank Group 9984.T fell 0.74% after
Reuters reported, citing a person with knowledge of the matter,
that the tech conglomerate under-reported income by around 40
billion yen.
Elsewhere, Sony Corp 6758.T added 4.47% ahead of earnings
later in the day.