Nikkei rebounds in cautious mood ahead of U.S. jobs data

SYDNEY, July 2 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks rose on Thursday,
tracking overnight gains in Wall Street, on signs that the
global economy was emerging from the coronavirus lockdown,
although many investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the
U.S. payrolls data later in the day.
The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 advanced 0.65% to
22,266.23 by the midday break, clawing back from a 0.75% drop on
Wednesday, with cyclical stocks leading the gains.
Soichiro Matsumoto, chief investment officer Japan at Credit
Suisse, called the current Nikkei's level of around 22,000 "a
pretty good level" for many institutional investors. He expects
Tokyo shares to remain range-bound, saying there's not much
upside left in the medium term.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 .SPX and Nasdaq .IXIC
indexes ended higher on Wednesday as increasing optimism for a
safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine eased concerns that another
round of business lockdowns was likely. .N
The U.S. manufacturing activity rebounded more than expected
in June, while similar surveys from China, Germany and France
all pointed to a recovery in factory activity. The broader Topix .TOPX gained 0.77% to 1,550.40 by the
midday recess, with all but four of the 33 sector sub-indexes on
the Tokyo exchange trading higher.
Highly cyclical air transport .IAIRL.T , sea transport
.ISHIP.T and transport equipment .ITEQP.T indexes were the
three top performers on the main bourse.
Toyota Motor Corp 7203.T advanced 2.3%, one day after U.S.
electric carmaker Tesla Inc TSLA.O overtook the Japanese
carmaker to become the highest-valued automaker in terms of
market capitalization. Bucking the overall trend, the index of Mothers start-up
market .MTHR slumped 5.2%, hitting its lowest level since May
28, with biotech AnGes Inc 4563.T nose-diving as much as 16%.
Large-cap stocks outperformed the small-cap shares, with the
Topix Large index .TOPXL rising 0.83% and the Topix Small
.TOPXS falling 0.23%.