Japanese stocks maintain momentum on trade optimism; fiscal stimulus

TOKYO-Japanese stocks extended its positive performance reaching its fourth consecutive high on Wednesday as optimism increased for the possibility of United States and China settling the ‘phase one’ of the trade pact.

At exactly 0148 GMT, Nikkei index soared up with 0.38% gains at 23,462.22 with automakers and retailers leading the top gainer board in the consumer discretionary sector. This year, Nikkei index hit 16.78% increase.

Japanese shares tallied another well-ended session after U.S. President Donald Trump disclosed information about the deal. The president had said that Washington was in the “final throes” of creating the agreement that would abolish the 16-month long trade truce with Beijing.

Trump released positive statements after US and China’s top negotiators held a conference over the phone as they agreed to fix trade war’s pressing issues.

Hopes on extra fiscal stimulus also contributed to Japanese stocks’ hike as a senior ruling official said on Wednesday that Japanese government is exerting effort to curate a stimulus spending package with a value of 10 trillion yen.

Japanese politicians urged for more fiscal spending in order to revive slowing progress.

Nikkei index has a total record of 166 gainers and 56 decliners on the Wednesday.

Top gainers in the index were semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker Screen Holdings Co. Ltd. with 3.87% increase, property developer Tokyo Tatemono Co Ltd with 3.01% gains, and audio component maker Yamaha Corp with 2.99% rise.

Leading decliners were Shinsei Bank Ltd shedding 1.87%, Dentsu Inc with 1.60%, and Internet services firm Z holdings with 1.57% setback.

The Topix index inched up with 0.33% on Monday to 1,711.16.

A total of 0.41 billion volume shares were traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchanges’ main board, with 1.29 billion yen record in previous session.