Japan's Topix hits seven-month high on tech-heavy Nasdaq rebound

Japan's Topix Index on Monday jumped the most in seven months, as a pause in sell-offs in US treasuries boosted the tech-heavy Nasdaq index and lifted domestic shares of chipmakers.

The Topix Index jumped 2.04 per cent to 1,894.94, the largest gain since Aug. 11, 2020, while the the Nikkei share average advanced 2.41 per cent to 29,663.50, the biggest gain since Dec. 29.

Shares on Monday bounced back following their worst drop in almost a year last week after a spike in global bond yields spooked investors already uneasy about the market's stretched valuation.

"The Nikkei will reclaim the 30,000 level sooner or later, depending on how the US bond yields will perform," said Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management.

"In the first place, the yields rose on expectations for an economic rebound, which is not a bad news for the stock market." Nasdaq index, composed mainly of tech shares that are sensitive to rising yields, rose 0.56 per cent on Friday after US bond yields peaked, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.5 per cent, and the S&P 500 edged down 0.48.

Shares of chipamkers jumped in Japan, with Tokyo Electron rising 2.09 per cent, Advantest adding 4.23 per cent and Screen Holdings jumping 3.49 per cent.

Index heavyweight SoftBank Group, up 5.46 per cent, was the biggest contributor to Nikkei's gain, followed by Uniqlo clothing store operator Fast Retailing, which jumped 2.71 per cent.

Itochu jumped 3.91 per cent after Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a holding of a 5.1 per cent stake in the trading house, as of Dec. 31.

The largest percentage gainer in the Nikkei index was NTT Data, which surged 8.12 per cent, followed by Haseko gaining 5.92  per cent and Nippon Sheet Glass up 5.57 per cent.

The largest percentage losers were Sharp Corp, which fell 2.83  per cent, followed by Rakuten losing 2.02  per cent and West Japan Railway Co down 0.88 per cent.

There were 206 advancers in the Nikkei index against 17 decliners.

All the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo exchange traded higher.