By Tomo Uetake
TOKYO, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Japanese shares bounced back on
Tuesday ahead of high-level Sino-U.S. talks this week to resolve
a damaging trade war, with semiconductor-related firms leading
the gains after Samsung flagged a slightly better than expected
third-quarter profit.
The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 ended up 1.0% at
21,587.78 points, while the broader Topix .TOPX added 0.9% to
1,586.50, though trading volume was below average as many
investors remained on the sidelines before the key trade talks.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is due to meet U.S. Trade
Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin on Thursday and Friday, but hopes for a deal dimmed on
Monday after President Donald Trump said a quick agreement was
unlikely. Overnight, the dollar rallied against the yen from a low of
106.55 yen to as high as 107.465 yen JPY= , providing a boost
for shares of Japanese exporters as a weak yen enhances
corporate profits when they are repatriated.
Among blue-chip exporters, Toyota Motor Co 7203.T gained
1.5%, NIDEC 6594.T advanced 2.8% and Omron Corp 6645.T added
2.4%.
Semiconductor-related shares made gains after South Korea's
Samsung Electronics 005930.KS flagged slightly better than
expected third-quarter profit, helping to ease investor concerns
about the smartphone market. In Tokyo, Sumco 3436.T jumped 3.8%, Advantest 6857.T
soared 4.4% and Screen Holdings 7735.T climbed 3.7%.
Investor sentiment was also helped by solid moves on the
Shanghai .SSEC and Hong Kong .HSI stock markets after a
one-week holiday in China.
By sector, precision machinery .IPRCS.T , metal products
.IMETL.T and oil & coal products .IPETE.T were the top three
performers among the Tokyo bourse's 33 sector subindexes, up
2.2%, 2.0% and 1.7%, respectively.
(Editing by Darren Schuettler & Kim Coghill)