Update: Japanese Shares Close Higher on the Back of Tech Rally, Promising Economic Data
Japanese stocks maintained their positive run to close with gains, tracking the rally by tech stocks in the US, as investors chose to move past the renewed tensions in the Middle East.The benchmark Nikkei 225 closed up 813.88 points or 1.20%, at 68,557.73.Overnight, Nasdaq closed with sharp gains on the news of Micron Technology's plans to invest more than $250 billion in the US through 2035. Investors are also closely eying SK Hynix's (KRX:000660) estimated $26.5 billion US market debut on Friday.Sentiment was also lifted by positive economic data back home. Japan's producer price index (PPI) rose 7.1% year over year in June, which was higher than the consensus forecast of a 6.8% increase by Investing.com, and was faster than a 6.6% increase in the previous month, according to preliminary data released by the Bank of Japan on Friday.On the corporate side, Kyushu Financial Group (TYO:7180) repurchased 597,600 common shares in June through market purchases for 865.2 million yen, according to a Friday filing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.Also, Celsys (TYO:3663) raised its first-half net profit forecast to 42.3% at 1.50 billion yen, up from its previous forecast of 1.05 billion yen for the six months ended June 30.
