TOKYO, April 23 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks rose on
Thursday, as sellers covered their positions after Wall Street
shares rebounded overnight on the promise of more U.S.
government aid to ease the economic pain inflicted by the
coronavirus pandemic.
The Nikkei share average .N225 rose 0.67% to 19,265.95
after three straight sessions of losses. The broader Topix
.TOPX gained 0.53% to 1,414.30.
Among the top gainers were shares that have been badly hit
so far this year, including advertisement firm Dentsu Group
4324.T , retailer J.Front Retailing 3086.T and oil
development firm Inpex 1605.T . They rose 4.8%, 4.4%, 4.2%
respectively.
Shares of some companies related to the semi-conductor
industry also jumped after their U.S. peers gained sharply, with
the Philadelphia Semiconductor index .SOX surging 5.9% in its
biggest one-day leap since April 6.
Fanuc Corp 6954.T rose 3.4%, while Alps Alpine 6770.T
gained 2.8%.
Transport equipment companies .ITEQP.T rose 1%, with Honda
Motor Co Ltd 7267.T gaining 2.3%.
The index of Mothers start-up shares .MTHR rose 3.3%,
erasing losses made earlier this week.
CyberAgent 4751.T climbed 8.6% after the company reported
strong growth in quarterly profit on brisk gaming business.
On the other hand, drugmaker Eisai lost 7.4% after Biogen
Inc BIIB.O on Wednesday delayed the filing for marketing
approval of its experimental Alzheimer's disease drug developed
jointly with Eisai.
Biogen said it needed more time to prepare the data before
submission.