Japan shares rise on Wall Street gains; Apple suppliers shine

TOKYO, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks rose on Wednesday
after a strong performance by Wall Street overnight on stimulus
bets, while shares of Apple suppliers firmed following a report
about the iPhone maker's plans to increase its production.
The Nikkei share average .N225 climbed 0.3% to 26,767.74
by the midday break. The broader Topix .TOPX gained 0.29% to
1,787.26.
All but nine of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo
exchange traded higher, with paper and pulp .IPAPR.T ,
nonferrous metals .INFRO.T and other financial .IFINS.T
being the three top performers on the main bourse.
Overnight, all three major U.S. stock indexes ended higher,
with the Nasdaq notching a record close, on the back of growing
prospects of more fiscal stimulus and helped by a 5% jump in
Apple Inc AAPL.O .
The Nikkei business daily reported Apple had asked its
suppliers to increase their production of iPhones by nearly 30%
in the first half of 2021, citing unnamed sources. Among the largest percentage gainers in the Nikkei index,
Apple supplier Alps Alpine 6770.T soared as much as 7%.
TDK Corp 6762.T climbed 2.04% and Taiyo Yuden 6976.T
rose 1.08%, while Murata Manufacturing 6981.T gained nearly
2.4% before changing course to slip 0.44%.
Some market participants said investors were in a
wait-and-see mode ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy
decision later in the day.
In its final policy meeting of the year, the U.S. central
bank is expected to keep its key overnight interest rate pinned
near zero and signal it will stay there for years to come.
Toa Oil 5008.T was last untraded with a glut of buy orders
at a daily-limit high, after Idemitsu Kosan 5019.T said it
would launch a tender offer for the company. Idemitsu Kosan rose
1.08%. Elsewhere, shares of consumer electronics maker Balmuda Inc
6612.T were also untraded with a glut of buy orders in their
Tokyo debut.