TOKYO, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index closed higher Wednesday as investors sought bargains including heavily weighed issues like Softbank Group.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average added 186.23 points, or 0.56 percent, from Tuesday to close the day at 33,575.14.
The broader Topix index, meanwhile, added 11.16 points, or 0.49 percent, to finish at 2,295.01.
Local brokers said the market reversed course after inheriting a downbeat lead from Wall Street overnight, as investor sentiment brightened and turned bullish later on, with investors snapping up heavyweights and chip-oriented issues.
"After seeing the early declines, investors boosted their appetite to buy stocks on dips," Shoichi Arisawa, general manager of the investment research department at IwaiCosmo Securities, was quoted as saying.
"This appetite will keep Nikkei's momentum, and the index looks set for a climb in the near term, but gradually," Arisawa said.
Market analysts also suggested investors were stocking up on shares ahead of potentially hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell during his testimony later in the day, as the market eyes the extent of the Fed's future rate hike policy.
"Investors may also be preemptively loading up on Japanese shares in anticipation of more hawkish comments from Powell tonight," Shingo Ide, chief equity strategist at the NLI Research Institute, was quoted as saying.
"The more the Federal Reserve Bank tightens its monetary policy, the easier it is for the yen to weaken," he said.
Exporters, reliant on a weak yen to boost profits made overseas when repatriated, got a boost from the yen's retreat against the U.S. dollar, with Yamaha Motor adding 2.3 percent, while Honda Motor accelerated 1.4 percent.
Nikkei heavyweight Softbank Group helped buoy the broader market, climbing 3.7 percent, following the group's annual general meeting and after remarks made by CEO Masayoshi Son referring to a more proactive stance towards AI and its advances.
Airlines also found favor with Japan Airlines rising 3.4 percent, while ANA Holdings, gained 2.7 percent.
Chip-oriented shares also helped prop up the market, with Advantest adding 1.2 percent, while Tokyo Electron jumped 2.8 percent.
By the close of play, air transportation, insurance, and iron and steel shares comprised those that gained the most.
The turnover on the Prime Market on the third trading day of the week came to 3,894.50 billion yen (27.46 billion U.S. dollars). ■
