Japan shares rise as investors eye U.S. election results

TOKYO, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Japanese shares rose on Wednesday
as markets cautiously eyed the U.S. presidential election, with
gains capped as early results showed tight race between
President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
The benchmark Nikkei share average .N225 rose 1.42% to
23,626.38 by the midday break, after rallying more than 2% in
early trade to its highest level since February.
The broader Topix .TOPX gained 0.82% to 1,621.10.
Investors had initially priced in a possible Democratic
sweep by Biden, which could ease political risk while promising
a huge boost to fiscal stimulus.
But gains were capped as worries of a contested election
returned on indications that Trump was narrowly leading Biden in
the vital battleground state of Florida.
Other competitive swing states that will help decide the
election outcome, such as Georgia and North Carolina, remained
up in the air. Japanese shares are taking cues from volatile U.S. stock
futures, but with selling pressure high after a rally, any
negative catalyst could hurt sentiment, a market participant
said.
Leading gains among the top 30 core Topix were Daiichi
Sankyo Co Ltd 4568.T up 3.87%, followed by Recruit Holdings Co
Ltd 6098.T . The underperformers among the Topix 30 were
Nintendo Co Ltd 7974.T down 2.05%, followed by SoftBank Group
Corp 9984.T losing 1.33%.
Among the largest percentage gainers in the index were
Fujikura Ltd 5803.T up 26.15%, followed by NTT Data Corp
9613.T gaining 11.54% after both firms logged
better-than-expected earnings results for the fiscal year ending
March.
The largest percentage losses in the index were Japan
Exchange Group Inc 8697.T down 5.01%, followed by Nexon Co Ltd
3659.T losing 2.59% and Z Holdings Corp 4689.T down by
2.58%.
Elsewhere, the Mothers Index .MTHR of start-up firm shares
gained more than 2.8%, snapping its four consecutive sessions of
losses.