Toyota Motor shares gain for third day, hit record high

TOKYO: Shares of Toyota Motor rose for a third straight session and hit a record high on Tuesday, as investors continued to bet on the Japanese automaker's ability to tackle a global chip shortage better than its rivals.

The rise in Toyota shares helped lift stocks of other car makers that have come under pressure due to competition from electric vehicle manufacturers as well as chip shortages.

"As supply chain disruptions due to chip shortage hamper the automaker industry, Toyota has been regarded as the company investors can buy," Nobuhiko Kuramochi, senior strategist at Mizuho Securities, said.

Toyota, the top Japanese company by market capitalisation and the world's biggest automaker, has weathered the chip shortage better than many of its rivals and has forecast a return to pre-pandemic profit levels this year.

Toyota shares rose 2.3per cent to a record high of 8,850 yen (US$81), surpassing their previous peak reached in 2015.

Honda Motor shares rose 3.4per cent, while loss-making Nissan Motor stocks gained 1.7per cent, in a broader market that was up about 2per cent.

The gains also reflect investors' interest in manufacturers of combustion engine vehicles globally as cheaper bargains versus electric vehicle makers such as Elon Musk's Tesla that have expensive valuations, analysts and fund managers say.

Shares of Volkswagen have gained nearly 40per cent this year, while Stellantis has risen 28per cent.

In contrast, Tesla has lost 18per cent of its value and Nikola has shed 15per cent since the start of 2021.

(US$1 = 109.1800 yen)

(Reporting by Hideyuki Sano; Editing by Himani Sarkar)