Nikkei ends higher on Wall Street cues; Apple-related shares gain

TOKYO: Japanese shares closed higher on Wednesday tracking a strong performance by Wall Street overnight, while Apple-related stocks gained after a report that the iPhone maker plans to increase its production.

The Nikkei share average climbed 0.26 per cent to 26,757.40. The broader Topix gained 0.27 per cent to 1,786.83.

All but eight of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo exchange ended higher, with paper and pulp, nonferrous metals and iron and steel being the three top performers on the main bourse.

Overnight, all three major U.S. stock indexes ended higher, with the Nasdaq notching a record close, on growing prospects of more fiscal stimulus and a 5 per cent jump in Apple Inc.

The Nikkei business daily reported Apple had asked its suppliers to increase their production of iPhones by nearly 30 per cent in the first half of 2021, citing unnamed sources.

Among the largest percentage gainers on the Nikkei index, Apple supplier Alps Alpine soared 7.14 per cent.

TDK Corp climbed 2.25 per cent, while Murata Manufacturing gained nearly 2.4 per cent before changing course to slip 0.2 per cent.

Some market participants said investors were in a wait-and-see mode ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decision later in the day.

In its final policy meeting for the year, the U.S. central bank is expected to keep its key overnight interest rate pinned near zero and signal it will stay there for years to come.

The stocks that gained the most among the top 30 core Topix names were Nintendo Co Ltd and Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd , rising 2.9 per cent and 2.4 per cent, respectively.

Toa Oil surged more than 20 per cent to a daily-limit high after Idemitsu Kosan said it would launch a tender offer for the company. Idemitsu Kosan rose 1.3 per cent.

The Mothers Index of start-up firm shares lost 1.18 per cent, hitting its near one-week low.