TOKYO, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Japanese shares bounced back on
Wednesday as positive COVID-19 vaccine news globally supported
economic recovery hopes, while better-than-expected domestic
machinery orders data also lifted investor sentiment.
The benchmark Nikkei share average .N225 rose 1.04% to
26,743.52 by the midday break, after declining for three
straight sessions. The broader Topix .TOPX added 0.88% to
1,774.24.
Overnight, the S&P and Nasdaq indexes notched record highs
on a string of vaccine news and seeming progress on U.S.
stimulus talks. .N
Hopes for a swift global economic recovery grew as Britain
on Tuesday became the first Western nation to begin a wide
vaccination campaign, and on encouraging COVID-19 vaccine news
from Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N and Pfizer Inc PFE.N .
Underpinning market sentiment further, data showed Japan's
core machinery orders rebounded sharply in October from the
previous month's drop. The 17.1% jump was the largest month-on-month rise since
comparable data became available in 2005, and far exceeded a
2.8% expansion forecast by economists in a Reuters poll.
The upbeat data sent shares of machinery companies higher.
Komatsu 6301.T climbed 2.58%, SMC Corp 6273.T added 2.27%
and Fanuc Corp 6954.T rose 2.02%.
Other sectors on the main bourse followed suit. Paper and
pulp .IPAPR.T and textiles .ITXTL.T rose 2.45% and 1.13%,
respectively.
Elsewhere, semiconductors tracked their U.S. peers higher.
Advantest Corp 6857.T rose nearly 1.3%, while SUMCO 3436.T
spiked 4.38%
Tokyo Dome Corp 9681.T slipped nearly 4.5% after property
developer Mitsui Fudosan 8801.T said on Tuesday that Oasis
Management was willing to tender shares in the company.
The Mothers Index .MTHR of start-up firm shares bucked the
overall trend to decline 1.96%.