Japan Market rises on Covid-19 vaccine progress

Japan share market finished session higher on Tuesday, 24 November 2020, as investor sentiment boosted by following an upbeat Wall Street session overnight that was driven by positive Covid-19 vaccine progress news. Further aiding to sentiment was news that US President-elect Joe Biden was given the go-ahead to begin his White House transition.

At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average advanced 638.22 points, or 2.5%, to 26,165.59, reaching its highest since May 1991. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 35.01 points, or 2.03%, to 1,762.40. Japan share market closed on Monday for national holiday.

Total 32 sector sub-indexes of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo exchange ended higher, with Securities & Commodities Futures, Precision Instruments, Iron & Steel, Metal Products, Real Estate, and Land Transportation sectors being notable gainers.

The Tokyo share markets commenced trading with firm footing on positive vaccine developments from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. The AstraZeneca (AZN) announced the its vaccine candidate being developed in collaboration with Oxford University had an average efficacy of 70%. The drug maker said one dosing regimen showed vaccine efficacy of 90% when given as a half dose, followed by a full dose at least one month apart, while another dosing regimen showed 62% efficacy when given as two full doses at least one month apart. This follows late-stage trial data from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna showing that their respective Covid-19 vaccines were around 95% effective.

The U.S. federal government recognized Biden as the apparent winner of the Nov. 3 election, giving the green light for cooperation on a transition of power despite efforts by President Donald Trump to overturn the election. Meanwhile, reports that Biden has chosen former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as treasury secretary, added to investors' confidence.

The stocks that gained the most among the top 30 core Topix names were Shin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd up 4.42%, followed by Fanuc Corp gaining 3.67%. The underperformers among the Topix 30 were KDDI Corp down 0.76%, followed by Nintendo Co Ltd losing 0.09%.

CURRENCY NEWS: The U.S. dollar remained steady around the mid-104 yen zone following a firm tone on solid U.S. business activity data for November released overnight. The Japanese yen traded at 104.28 per dollar after seeing levels below 104 against the greenback yesterday.

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