Japan shares gain as optimism builds for earnings season

By Stanley White
TOKYO, April 9 (Reuters) - Japanese shares rose on Friday in
broad-based buying, driven by growing expectations that
companies will report healthy profits and issue upbeat forecasts
in the coming days as corporate earnings reports start to roll
in.
The Nikkei 225 Index .N225 rose 0.43% to 29,837.54 by 0204
GMT, while the broader Topix .TOPX gained 0.64% to 1,964.55.
Stocks in Tokyo got off to a bright start, taking their lead
from the S&P 500's .SPX record closing high and supportive
comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on
Thursday.
Industrial robot and semiconductor manufacturing equipment
maker Yaskawa Electric Corp 6506.T is scheduled to release its
earnings report on Friday. Its shares rose 0.34%.
Analysts said this could set the tone for Japan's industrial
sector, which is expected to benefit from a rebound in global
capital expenditure and rising investment to ease a shortage in
semiconductors.
"This is just the beginning of the (equities) cycle," said
Junichi Inoue, head of Japanese equities at Janus Henderson
Investors.
"This is going to be capex-driven and a bigger cycle than
previously. Japanese companies are very strong in capital
equipment. In general, the machinery sector should benefit."
The stock that gained the most among the top 30 core Topix
names was Sony Group Corp 6758.T , up 2.52%. Hitachi Ltd
6501.T rose 2.5%, boosted by reports it was in talks to sell
its metals unit. The underperformers among the Topix 30 were Seven & i
Holdings Co Ltd 3382.T , down 2.35%, followed by Honda Motor Co
Ltd 7267.T , losing 0.59%.
For the week, the Nikkei index was on course for a 2.3%
rise, bouncing back from a 2.1% decline in the previous week.
There were 177 advancers on the Nikkei index against 46
decliners on Friday.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board .TOPX was 0.55 billion, compared with the average
1.38 billion in the past 30 days.