Japan stocks hit 5-week high on hopes of virus drug, economic growth

By Stanley White
TOKYO, July 15 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks rose on Wednesday
to a five-week peak as encouraging results from a coronavirus
vaccine study and optimism about swift economic growth supported
expectations that corporate earnings will pick up in the second
half of the year.
The Nikkei index .N225 rose 1.4% to 22,902.10 by 0157 GMT.
The index briefly climbed to the highest since June 10, with
industrial and consumer discretional shares leading the advance.
Sentiment for Japanese equities and other risky assets got a
boost on Wednesday after U.S. biotech firm Moderna Inc MRNA.O
said its experimental coronavirus vaccine showed it was safe in
an early-stage study. Recent data from many major economies have also shown signs
that corporate activity and consumer spending are recovering
from sharp declines in the first half of the year caused by the
coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, new COVID-19 cases are slowly rising in Japan.
The situation is worse in the United States, where infections
and deaths are hitting record highs on a daily basis.
Investors, however, are looking past these developments as
they focus on expectations for better medical treatments and
continued economic growth.
There were 209 advancers on the Nikkei index against 15
decliners.
The largest percentage gainers in the index were automaker
Nissan Motor Co Ltd 7201.T up 7.1%, followed by steel
manufacturer JFE Holdings Inc 5411.T gaining 5.88%, and plant
engineering company JGC Holdings Corp 1963.T up by 5.46%.
The largest percentage losses in the index were
pharmaceutical company Eisai Co Ltd 4523.T down 1.93%,
followed by drugs maker Kyowa Kirin Co Ltd 4151.T losing
1.06%, and semiconductor testing equipment maker Advantest Corp
6857.T down by 1.03%.
The broader TOPIX index .TOPX rose 1.34% to 1,585.71.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board .TOPX 0.53 billion, compared with the average of
1.3 billion in the past 30 days.

(Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)