Japan’s Nikkei Index jumped on Thursday, setting the biggest gain in nearly seven weeks after the Federal Reserve Board (Fed/FED) decision to reduce bond purchases was in line with investor expectations.
The Nikkei index rose 2.13% to close at 29,066.32 points, the largest single-day percentage gain since November 1. The Topix Stock Index rose about 1.46% to 2,013.08 points.
US stocks closed sharply higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said it would end its bond purchase plan during the epidemic in March and will raise interest rates three times next year.
“After confirming that the Fed is not in a hurry to raise interest rates, investors breathed a sigh of relief and started a risk appetite model,” said Seiichi Suzuki, chief stock market analyst at the Tokai Tokyo Research Institute.
“But whether this momentum will continue into next week or later is another question.”
Weighted technology stocks tracked the 3.7% jump in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Chip-related Tokyo Electronics (Tokyo Weili Kechuang) and Advantest (Advantest) rose 3.11% and 5.37%, respectively. Robot maker Fanuc (Fanuc) rose 2.34%.
Canon jumped 6.52% after the office equipment manufacturer raised its annual dividend forecast.
Shipping stocks rose 4.87%, the largest increase in the exchange’s 33 industry sub-indexes. Prior to this, Nomura Securities raised the target prices of the three major shipping companies.
NYK increased 5.6%, MOL increased 3.87%, and Kawasaki Steamship increased 5.43%.
