Japan Shares Give up Most of The Gains as US Bond Yields Rise

Japanese stocks rose on Wednesday, October 20, buoyed by a strong close on Wall Street, but gave up most of the gains as investors grew cautious about weak US futures contracts and higher yields on Treasuries.

The Nikkei index increased by 0.14% to close at 29,255.55 points, after rising by 0.9% earlier in the session, and the broader Topix index rose 0.05% to close at 2027.67 points.

The 10-year US Treasury yield touched a five-month high of 1.673% during Asian trading hours.

But Nikkei received support from other leading shares, as the SoftBank investment group rose 4.4%, and the shares of brokerages and banks led the upward wave, supported by the increase in bond yields. The brokerage sector index rose 1.52% and the banking sector index rose 1.19%.

And companies operating airlines and railways rose, supported by hopes of an economic recovery. The two sectors rose 3.14% and 1.83%, respectively.

The shipping sector was the biggest loser in the 33 sub-sectors of the stock exchange, down 3.25%.