Nikkei ends at two-week high on US tariff relief, chip rally

[TOKYO] Japan’s Nikkei ended trade on Thursday (May 29) at the highest point in more than two weeks after a US court blocked President Donald Trump’s tariffs from going into effect, while a weaker yen and a rally in chip-related stocks also supported the benchmark index.

The Nikkei climbed 1.88 per cent to 38,432.98, its highest close since May 13.

The broader Topix rose 1.53 per cent to 2,812.02.

The Manhattan-based Court of International Trade ruled that Trump overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board duties on imports from nations that sell more to the United States than they buy.

“The news was positive as Trump’s tariff plans are a headwind for the corporate and economic outlook,” said Kentaro Hayashi, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.

“And the yen weakened on the news, which drove a rally in the auto sector,” he said.

The US dollar surged following the court decision, pushing the yen to fall as low as 146.26 against the greenback. A weaker yen boosts the value of overseas revenues.

Chip-related shares jumped after Nvidia beat quarterly sales expectations, with Advantest and Tokyo Electron rising 5.35 per cent and 4.25 per cent, respectively.

Cable maker Fujikura, a gauge for AI investments, jumped 5.54 per cent. It lifted the nonferrous metals sector by 5.8 per cent, making it the top performer among the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 industry sub-indexes.

Shares of Toyota Motor rose nearly 4 per cent, helping lift the auto and auto parts sector by 3.39 per cent.

Hino Motors and Nissan Motor jumped nearly 6 per cent each.

On the other hand, toy maker Bandai Namco Holdings fell 2.96 per cent to drag the Nikkei the most. REUTERS