Nikkei hits 2-1/2 month high on economy reopening hopes

SYDNEY, May 19 (Reuters) - Japanese shares rose to a
two-and-a-half month high on Tuesday as encouraging early-stage
data for a potential coronavirus vaccine boosted hopes for a
swift reopening of the global economy.
The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 gained 1.9% to
20,517.42 by the midday break, highest since March 6, in line
with its Wall Street and Asian peers.
Data from Moderna Inc's MRNA.O COVID-19 vaccine, the first
to be tested in the United States, showed it produced protective
antibodies in a small group of healthy volunteers, the company
said on Monday. In a positive response to this, U.S. stocks jumped on
Monday, with the S&P 500 .SPX closing at a 10-week high, while
the Dow .DJI and the Nasdaq .IXIC rose 3.9% and 2.4%,
respectively. .N
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS last traded up 1.7% in Asian trade.
Traders said the news of Moderna's success with a potential
coronavirus vaccine trial lifted investors' risk appetite
globally.
The broader Topix .TOPX advanced 1.7% to 1,484.04 by the
midday recess, also hitting its highest level since March 6,
with all but one of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo
exchange trading higher.
Highly cyclical iron and steel .ISTEL.T , air transport
.IAIR.T and sea transport .ISHIP.T were the top three
performing sectors on the main bourse.
Panasonic Corp 6752.T surged 6.0% after the company said
on Monday it was seeing strong demand for battery cells from
U.S. partner Tesla Inc TSLA.O and they were in talks to expand
their joint plant in Nevada, which is now profitable.
Japan's top oil and gas exploration company Inpex Corp
1605.T added 3.4% as oil prices climbed to a two month-high on
Monday following signs that producers were following through on
planned output reductions. O/R
Bucking the overall market, the Nikkei's heavyweight
SoftBank Group Corp 9984.T shed 2.0% after it reported a
stunning $18 billion loss at its Vision Fund, pushing the tech
conglomerate to a record loss and highlighting the deepening
crisis at its portfolio companies. Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday the
conglomerate was in talks to sell "a significant portion" of its
T-Mobile US TMUS.O stake to controlling shareholder Deutsche
Telekom AG DTEGn.DE .