SoftBank Group, Yaskawa outperform market after SoftBank deal to buy ABB’s robotics arm
Nikkei has rallied strongly this week with fiscal dove Takaichi set to become premier
Analysts warn of potential for Nikkei volatility amid signs of overheating
TOKYO, – Japan’s Nikkei share average rallied to a fresh high on Thursday, with index heavyweight SoftBank Group surging more than 11% as investors bought into its vision of artificial intelligence-powered robots.
Robot manufacturer Yaskawa Electric also shot up 9.5%, with those two stocks handily outperforming all others on Japan’s share benchmark.
The tech-heavy Nikkei climbed 1.8% to finish the day at 48,580.44, close to the intraday peak of 48,597.08 – both record levels.
SoftBank alone added 466 points to the Nikkei’s 845-point rally.
The broader Topix, by contrast, gained a more muted 0.7% to 3,257.77.
SoftBank said late in Wednesday’s trading session that it had bought the robotics business of Switzerland’s ABB, taking forward the Japanese startup investor’s strategy to fuse robotics and AI, although the announcement was largely ignored by the market initially.
“The moves in SoftBank and Yaskawa are so big compared to everything else, it’s easy to think this is a delayed reaction,” said Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management. “It feels a little overdone.”
The Nikkei may be ripe for a pullback, with an oft-cited gauge known as the relative strength index at 77.6, well above the 70 level generally considered as an indicator of overheating.
The auto sector was notably among the worst performers from the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 industry groups, after reaching the highest level since the middle of last year on Wednesday.
The sector slid 1.3% despite persistent weakness in the yen , which buoys the value of overseas sales. Toyota dropped more than 2%.
Japanese stocks were supercharged at the start of the week after fiscal dove Sanae Takaichi was elected as the head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, setting her up to become the country’s next prime minister.
However, her ascension is not assured, with her right-wing hardline conservative politics creating friction with coalition partner Komeito, and the government holding a minority of seats in both houses of parliament.
The market could see additional volatility after Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing unofficially kicked off the earnings season with after-the-bell results on Thursday. The stock ended the day 3.4% higher ahead of that.
Daiwa Securities strategist Kenji Abe forecasts the Nikkei can rally to 50,000 by the end of Japan’s fiscal year in March.
“Earnings are improving,” he said. “The Nikkei can rise further.”
At the same time, “politics are important, and can inject near-term volatility,” he said. “The market has high expectations for Takaichi’s policies.”
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
