Nikkei reverses its course and closes higher

Japan’s Nikkei index reversed course to close higher on Wednesday as investors snapped up heavyweight stocks that have seen their prices decline, with SoftBank Group and chip-related stocks leading the gains.

The Nikkei index rose 0.56 percent to close at 33,575.14 points, after falling as much as 0.7 percent earlier in the session.

The Japanese index tracked the decline in early trading on Wall Street.

The broader Topix index also erased its losses and closed 0.5 percent higher, at 2,295.01 points.

“After seeing losses in early trading, investors are more willing to buy shares that have fallen,” said Shuichi Arisawa, general manager of investment research at Iwai Cosmo Securities.

“This demand will maintain the momentum of the Nikkei index, and it seems that the index is ready to go up in the near term, but gradually,” he added.

SoftBank rose 3.68%, giving the Nikkei the biggest boost, after the group, which focuses on investing in technology companies, held its annual general meeting on Wednesday.

Chip-related stocks rose, with Advantest and Tokyo Electron adding 1.25% and 2.8%, respectively.

Japan Airlines rose 3.43 percent, lifting the aviation sector index 3 percent, to record the largest gain among the 33 sub-indices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

In all, 156 stocks rose on the Nikkei index and 66 fell, while three stocks remained unchanged.