Roundup: Tokyo stocks close sharply higher on buybacks after sell-off

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TOKYO, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed sharply higher Friday in part due to Wall Street bouncing back overnight, with investors snapping up issues oversold during the benchmark Nikkei stock index's more than 7 percent drop during its three-day losing streak through Thursday.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 636.46 points, or 2.32 percent, from Friday to close the day at 28,084.47.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, added 34.38 points, or 1.86 percent, to finish at 1,883.42.

Investors bought on dips from the get-go, local dealers said, with gains extending towards the end of the final trading session of the week, as sentiment was lifted by Wall Street's losing steak coming to an end.

"Battered-down shares were bought back and dip-buying kicked in after Wall Street rebounded almost across the board," Chihiro Ota, assistant general manager of investment research at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., was quoted as saying.

During the week, however, some brokers noted that investors were reluctant to chase the market higher due to concerns over Japan's sluggish vaccination rollout as well as fears regional and the overall economy will be hit by expanded restrictions on businesses and people's movements.

"Japanese shares are trying to chase the U.S. markets higher, but the economic outlook for both countries is diverging, so Japanese shares will not be able to keep up," Ayako Sera, a market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, was quoted as saying.

"Japan's vaccination rate is behind the United States, so its economic recovery will also lag behind," Sera also said.

As for the U.S. dollar-yen pairing, the dollar was quoted at 109.38-39 yen at 5 p.m. compared with 109.42-52 yen in New York and 109.66-68 yen at 5 p.m. on Thursday in Tokyo.

The euro, meanwhile, fetched 1.2114-2116 dollars and 132.51-55 yen against 1.2074-2084 dollars and 132.19-29 yen in New York and 1.2085-2087 dollars and 132.53-57 yen in late Thursday afternoon trade in Tokyo.

By the close of play, precision instrument, consumer credit and land transportation issues comprised those that gained the most.

Isuzu Motors Ltd. surged by 21.7 percent to become the Nikkei's largest percentage gainer, after announcing robust profit forecasts for the current fiscal year.

Heavy machinery manufacturer IHI soared 8.8 percent, after revealing its net profit is projected to more than double in fiscal 2021.

Toshiba Corp. added 0.9 percent, after saying it expects a 63 percent surge in annual operating profit this fiscal year, although some of its gains were eroded following reports of a cyber attack on its European business.

Nippon Sheet Glass Co. Ltd. weighed on the market, however, tumbling 14.8 percent by the close.

Issues that rose outpaced those that fell by 1,790 to 347 on the First Section, while 55 ended the day unchanged.

On the main section on Friday, 1,266.20 million shares changed hands, dropping from Thursday's volume of 1,408.35 million shares.

The turnover on the final trading day of the week came to 2,886.73 billion yen (26.40 billion U.S. dollars). Enditem

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