Nikkei rebounds on Wall Street gains, yen's retreat

TOKYO, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Japanese shares snapped six
consecutive sessions of losses on Monday, as markets tracked
Wall Street's Friday rally on strong earnings reports, and the
yen retreated from a 4-1/2-month high against the dollar.
The benchmark Nikkei share average .N225 closed 2.24%
higher at 22,195.38, after shedding 4.6% last week. The index
had 193 advancers against 32 decliners
The broader Topix .TOPX gained 1.78% to 1,522.64,
recovering from a two-month-low and its biggest daily loss in
four months recorded on Friday.
All but one of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo
exchange finished higher.
Wall Street's all three major indexes advanced on Friday,
powered by strong earnings results from U.S. tech giants,
including Apple Inc, Amazon.com and Facebook Inc. .N
In the currency market, exporters got a boost as the yen
fell to a low of 106.40 yen against the dollar, moving away from
a 4-1/2-month high of 104.195 yen touched on Friday.
Among individual stocks, Yamato Holdings Co Ltd 9064.T
rose 5.05% as the company forecast a 43.2% jump in operating
profit for the fiscal year.
Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd 6981.T pared gains in the
afternoon and ended 0.02% higher after the company left its
full-year operating profit forecast unchanged.
Keyence Corporation 6861.T fell 3.89% after the factory
automation equipment maker logged a 21.9% decline in its
March-June operating profit.
Mazda Motor 7261.T slipped 2.54% as the automaker forecast
a record annual operating loss. Elsewhere, Nichiigakkan Co Ltd 9792.T gained 8.38% after
U.S. investment firm Bain Capital made a sweetened offer price
at $1.2 billion. Seven & i Holdings Co Ltd 3382.T fell 4.8% after the
retail group said it would buy U.S. gas stations Speedway from
Marathon Petroleum, as some investors viewed the deal price to
be too high given the coronavirus-led economic slowdown.