Japan Nikkei recovers 0.24% on bargain hunting

Japan share market finished session modestly higher after clawing back early losses on Monday, 24 January 2022, as investors chased for bargain hunting on recently battered stocks, thanks to better than expected Jibun Bank's manufacturing PMI survey data.

However, market gains were limited amid uncertainty over Japan's growth prospect as rapid surge of COVID-19 cases in Japan leading to as many as 30 out of Japan's 47 prefectures possibly being placed under emergency measures as soon as Tuesday could cause supply chain bottlenecks and slow the country's economic recovery. Also, market participants were refrained from active purchasing ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting through Wednesday.

At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average advanced 66.11 points, or 0.24%, to 27,588.37. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 2.69 points, or 0.14%, to 1,929.87.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Japan Manufacturing PMI Expands To 54.6 In January- Japan manufacturing sector continued to expand in January with a manufacturing PMI score of 54.6, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Monday. That's up from 54.3 in December, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. Both output and new order growth quickened, with the latter rising at the fastest pace for nine months. Manufacturers remained confident regarding the health of the sector and continued to take on additional staff, as indicated by a further moderate increase in employment. Though firms remained strongly optimistic regarding the 12-month outlook for output, positive sentiment dipped to a five-month low. The survey also showed that the services PMI tumbled to 46.6 from 51.1 in December, while the composite PMI dropped to 48.8 from 51.9.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Japanese yen traded at 113.75 per dollar, compared with 113.64-74 in New York and 113.86-87 in Tokyo on Friday.

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