Japan's Nikkei hits 4-month high on Wall Street's lead
[TOKYO] Japan's Nikkei share average advanced to a four-month high on Tuesday (Jun 17), tracking overnight Wall Street gains following signs of a potential de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East.
Bank shares rose after the Bank of Japan signalled it is still on track to raise interest rates in the longer term. The broader equity market, however, largely shrugged off widely expected decisions to keep borrowing costs steady and slow the pace of government bond purchase reductions from next April.
The Nikkei closed 0.6 per cent higher at 38,536.74. Earlier in the day, it reached 38,581.25 for the first time since February 21. The broader Topix added 0.4 per cent.
The Topix banking index ended the day up 0.3 per cent, reversing morning session losses.
Japanese growth shares still outperformed, though, with a Topix index of the securities up 0.5 per cent, compared with a 0.2 per cent rise for value shares.
Chip-related stocks were among the Nikkei's top performers. Disco was the biggest percentage gainer with a 6.3 per cent surge. Advantest climbed 2.4 per cent and Tokyo Electron advanced 2.9 per cent.
Out of the Nikkei's 225 components, 136 rose, 83 fell, and six ended flat. REUTERS
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Times
4 hours ago
- Business Times
CAG calls for pre-qualification of main contractors for ground transportation centre in Changi
[SINGAPORE] Pre-qualification of main contractors for the ground transportation centre at Changi East development is open, the procurement portal of airport operator Changi Airport Group (CAG) showed. The call for contractors to apply to be considered for the opportunity opened a fortnight ago on May 29 and closes next Wednesday (Jun 25). The ground transportation centre houses train, bus, taxi, and other transport services at the Changi East development, including the future Cross Island Line and Thomson-East Coast Line stations at the airport. Through it, Terminal 5 will be directly connected to the city centre and the future Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System Link via the Thomson-East Coast Line. According to the permit to commence structural works issued by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) in April, the ground transportation centre comprises a four-storey integrated transport hub with two mezzanine floors, a bus interchange and coach facilities as well as two blocks of multi-storey car parks that would include three basement levels and an underground train station. Integrated transport hubs, introduced by the Land Transport Authority, provide commuters with a seamless connection between bus services and other modes of transport as well as adjoining developments. As of 2024, there were 12 such hubs, not including the Jurong East integrated transport hub being constructed at a design-and-built contract value of S$477.4 million. CAG in May awarded the substructure contract at T5 to a joint venture between China Communications Construction Company (Singapore Branch) and Obayashi Singapore. The construction of the foundation and basements of the T5 main passenger terminal and ground transportation centre, as well as a portion of the tunnels linking T5 and Terminal 2, was awarded at S$3.8 billion. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Surbana Jurong, Arup and Mott MacDonald have earlier been selected as master building consultants to provide engineering design and management services for the key structures of the T5 project, including the ground transportation centre. CAG is now calling for pre-qualification of main contractors for the ground transportation centre. To apply, contractors must first be registered as an online CAG supplier. A main contractor, sometimes referred to as a general contractor or principal contractor, is the party which enters into a contract with a client to oversee and manage the entirety of a construction project. A main contractor is responsible for coordinating all aspects of the project, including hiring subcontractors, managing timelines, budgets and ensuring the project is completed to the agreed-upon specifications. CAG awarded a contract last week for the construction of intra-terminal tunnels at T5 to a joint-venture between Japanese builder Penta-Ocean Construction and Singapore's Koh Brothers Building & Civil Engineering Contractor. This award, valued at S$999 million, came after the groundbreaking of T5 in May.
Business Times
4 hours ago
- Business Times
SoftBank sells T-Mobile stake for US$4.8 billion to bet on AI
[NEW YORK] SoftBank Group raised around US$4.8 billion through a sale of T-Mobile US shares, a move that helps fund the Japanese company's grandiose plans for artificial intelligence. The Tokyo-based technology group sold 21.5 million T-Mobile shares for US$224 each – pricing at the bottom of the US$224 to US$228 range – in an unregistered overnight block sale, according to the final terms of the deal seen by Bloomberg News. The offering, which Bloomberg reported earlier, represents a discount of 3 per cent to T-Mobile US' Monday closing price of US$230.99 per share. SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son is ramping up investments aimed at making AI reasoning superior to humans'. He's overseeing plans to put down as much as US$30 billion in OpenAI and is also working with the ChatGPT creator to ferry hundreds of billions of dollars into data centres and related infrastructure around the world under the Stargate banner. SoftBank's original plans for debt financing had snagged on uncertainties around US tariffs. T-Mobile shares fell 3.9 per cent in extended trading, while SoftBank's shares rose 2.1 per cent in Tokyo. A representative of SoftBank declined to comment. Representatives of T-Mobile did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours. The deal is the biggest US share sale since Toronto-Dominion Bank sold a US$13.1 billion stake in brokerage firm Charles Schwab in February. Sales of new and existing shares in US-listed companies reached US$91.4 billion in the year to date, up from US$75.9 billion in the same period a year ago, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The T-Mobile stake sale would be the latest example of Son tapping past investment successes – such as an early bet on Alibaba Group Holding that's yielded thousands-fold returns – to fund new ventures. SoftBank received T-Mobile shares with the completion of the US telecom company's US$26.5 billion acquisition of Sprint in April 2020. Later that year, SoftBank substantially reduced its stake in T-Mobile via a US$21 billion deal that helped pay for a record buyback of SoftBank's shares. The stake offered represents about 1.9 per cent of T-Mobile's outstanding shares, according to Bloomberg calculations. SoftBank owned 85.4 million shares or 7.5 per cent of T-Mobile as of March 31, according to its annual report. Deutsche Telekom is T-Mobile's largest shareholder with a 59 per cent stake, according to a June 12 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. BLOOMBERG
Business Times
6 hours ago
- Business Times
Japan's Nikkei hits 4-month high on Wall Street's lead
[TOKYO] Japan's Nikkei share average advanced to a four-month high on Tuesday (Jun 17), tracking overnight Wall Street gains following signs of a potential de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East. Bank shares rose after the Bank of Japan signalled it is still on track to raise interest rates in the longer term. The broader equity market, however, largely shrugged off widely expected decisions to keep borrowing costs steady and slow the pace of government bond purchase reductions from next April. The Nikkei closed 0.6 per cent higher at 38,536.74. Earlier in the day, it reached 38,581.25 for the first time since February 21. The broader Topix added 0.4 per cent. The Topix banking index ended the day up 0.3 per cent, reversing morning session losses. Japanese growth shares still outperformed, though, with a Topix index of the securities up 0.5 per cent, compared with a 0.2 per cent rise for value shares. Chip-related stocks were among the Nikkei's top performers. Disco was the biggest percentage gainer with a 6.3 per cent surge. Advantest climbed 2.4 per cent and Tokyo Electron advanced 2.9 per cent. Out of the Nikkei's 225 components, 136 rose, 83 fell, and six ended flat. REUTERS
