The Nikkei index makes the biggest jump in a month thanks to chip stocks

Japan’s Nikkei average posted its biggest jump in a month on Friday, recovering from a one-month low hit in the previous session, as chip-related stocks rose and the Bank of Japan’s upcoming governor supported the current monetary easing policy.

The index ended Friday up 1.29 percent to 27,453.48 points. The Nikkei fell to its lowest level since January 23 at 27,046.08 points on Wednesday.

Japanese markets were closed on Thursday for a national holiday.

Industry giants Tokyo Electron and Advantest contributed nearly half of the Nikkei’s total gain of 349 points. Advantest was the best performer, rising 8.22 percent, followed by Tokyo Electron, up 7.13 percent, after their US counterpart Nvidia said quarterly sales were better than expected.

The broader Topix index rose 0.67 percent to 1,986.43 points.

Kazuo Ueda, the nominee for the position of governor of the Bank of Japan, began his testimony before parliament for several hours, saying that the current policy of the central bank is “appropriate” and “necessary.”

Earlier on Friday, data showed that consumer price inflation in Japan reached a 41-year high in January.