Japanese shares jump on Fed's growth view, rate pledge

TOKYO, March 18 (Reuters) - Japanese shares jumped on
Thursday, tracking Wall Street's record highs, after the U.S.
Federal Reserve projected a rapid jump in economic growth and
pledged to keep interest rates low.
The Nikkei share average .N225 jumped 1.53% to 30,372.88
by 0150 GMT, while the broader Topix .TOPX advanced 1.16% to
2,007.05.
"Investors have a lot of reasons to sell stocks at the end
of the fiscal year end March, but today their appetite for
making bets greatly exceeded the sell-off pressure," said
Takatoshi Itoshima, strategist at Pictet Asset Management.
"The Fed gave investors confidence by brushing off
uncertainties of the rate outlook by pledging to keep its
interest rate at close to zero."
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at
record highs on Wednesday after the Fed said the U.S. economy is
heading for its strongest growth in nearly 40 years, fuelled by
massive federal fiscal stimulus and the roll-out of COVID-19
vaccines. .N In Japan, chip-related shares advanced, with Nikkei
heavyweights Tokyo Electron 8035.T jumping 3.82%, Fanuc
6954.T gaining 3.02% and Advantest 6857.T rising 4.54%.
Toyota Motor 7203.T advanced 2.82%, leading the Topix
gain. Honda Motor 7267.T inched up 0.55% and Nissan Motor
7201.T edged up 0.59%.
The airliners gained, with ANA Holdings 9202.T and Japan
Airlines 9201.T rising 0.57% and 1.2%, respectively, as the
Japanese government's advisory panel on coronavirus
countermeasures approved a plan to let the state of emergency
expire in the Tokyo area as scheduled on March 21. There were 184 advancers on the Nikkei index against 39
decliners, with financial stocks among the top gainers on the
main bourse.
Daiichi Sankyo 4568.T , up 3.4 %, and Fanuc advanced the
most among the Topix 30, while SoftBank Group 9984.T and Seven
& i Holdings Co Ltd 3382.T were among the underperformers,
losing 0.82% and 0.11%, respectively.