Japanese stocks track Wall Street gains

Japanese stocks rose on Wednesday for a second straight session, as technology heavyweights tracked Wall Street’s overnight gains, while the yen’s recent decline helped boost automakers’ shares.

The Nikkei index closed up 0.86 percent to 27,217.85 points, while the broader Topix index closed up 1.03 percent to 1,915.15 points.

“US Treasury yields were rising, so investors couldn’t buy growth stocks impulsively,” said Hideyuki Suzuki, general manager of investment research at SBI Securities.

Shares of Fast Retailing, owner of clothing store Unilco, provided the biggest boost to the Nikkei, which rose 2.5%, followed by SoftBank Group, which invests in technology, which gained 1.44 percent.

Shares of auto and auto parts companies led gains in the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 sub-sector indices, which jumped 3.39 percent after the yen fell to a 20-year low against the dollar.

Toyota Motor shares jumped 3.74 percent, the main supporter of the Topix index. Honda Motor Co. rose 3.59 percent.

Chip-related heavyweight Tokyo Electron lost 1.25 percent, and Advantest fell 1.29%.