Tokyo shares lose steam but near 3-month high on rebound hopes, weaker yen

SYDNEY, June 4 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks drifted near
their more than three-month highs on Thursday on signs of an
economic rebound from a coronavirus-led slump and a weakening
yen, with the rally losing steam as investors locked in profits.
The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 gained a marginally
0.08% to 22,631.01 by the midday break, after touching its
highest intraday level since Feb. 25 and then seesawed between
gains and losses in morning trade.
On Wednesday, data showed that U.S. private payrolls fell
less than expected in May, suggesting layoffs were abating as
businesses reopen, which helped propel all the three major
indexes .SPX .DJI .IXIC on Wall Street. .N
In the currency market, the safe-haven yen weakened, with
the dollar/yen JPY=EBS hitting a fresh two-month high of
109.04 yen early Thursday and the euro/yen touching EURJPY=EBS
a 4-1/2-month high of 122.625 yen overnight. FRX/
As a soft yen boosts Japanese manufacturers' profits made
abroad when repatriated, shares of bluechip exporters were in
need. Toyota Motor 7203.T rose 1.3%, Sony Corp 6758.T added
1.1% and Murata Manufacturing 6981.T gained 1.3%.
The broader Topix .TOPX eased just 0.01% to 1,598.86 by
the recess, after erasing its early gains, with three-fifth of
the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo exchange trading lower.
Financial stocks notched higher, with insurance .IINSU.T
and banking .IBNKS.T among the top-performing sectors on the
main bourse. Tokio Marine Holdings 8766.T advanced 2.1% and
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) 8306.T climbed 1.5%.
The index of Mothers start-up shares .MTHR dropped 1.2%,
after marking its 1-1/2-year peak earlier this week.
Elsewhere, Leopalace21 8848.T dived 11.7% as the apartment
development and leasing company cut earnings estimates for the
year that ended in March due to special losses. The
struggling company has said it will announce a full earnings
report on Friday.