Japanese Stocks Rise After Five Sessions of Losses

Japanese stocks snapped a five-session losing streak as investors re-purchased shares whose prices fell amid cautious optimism about earnings ahead of a long weekend marking the start of the Tokyo Olympic Games.

The Nikkei index closed up 0.58 percent at 27,548 points, rebounding from Tuesday’s six-month low, although it failed to consolidate above an important technical level.

The broader Topix index rose 0.82 percent to 1,904.41 points.

“Japan has underperformed its global peers since the start of the year… but we expect the gap to narrow as domestic vaccination campaigns accelerate,” said Daisuke Nomoto, director of Japanese equities at Columbia Threadneedle Investments in Boston.