By Kevin Buckland
TOKYO, March 9 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average
hit a 6-1/2-month high on Thursday, extending gains for a fifth
straight session, as a less-hawkish Federal Reserve outlook and
expectations for no imminent change to Bank of Japan stimulus
buoyed risk sentiment.
Overnight strength among U.S. technology shares lifted
Japanese peers, while the yen's decline to a multi-month low
provided broader support even as the currency recouped some
losses in the current session.
Real estate and financial shares, which usually move in
opposite directions based on changes in bond yields, jointly
posted gains on the Nikkei as investors favoured high
dividend-yield stocks before the end of Japan's fiscal year this
month.
The Nikkei ended the day 0.63% higher at 28,623.15.
Earlier in the session, the index scaled 28,734.79, its highest
since Aug. 26, 2022.
Ahead of big risk events on Friday, including crucial
non-farm payrolls figures in the United States and BOJ Governor
Haruhiko Kuroda's last policy decision before retirement, some
investors were keen to start locking in profit.
But the rally was still broad, with 186 of the Nikkei's 225
components rising, while 31 fell and eight were flat.
Convenience store operator Seven & i Holdings topped the leaderboard with a 4.09% surge following media
reports that it was shutting some of its Ito Yokado supermarket
locations.
Lender Resona Holdings came close with a nearly 4%
jump. Chipmaking equipment giant Tokyo Electron was the
index's biggest support, contributing 20.5 points with a 1.25%
rise.
The Topix gained 0.97% to 2,071.09, not far from the
day's high of 2,071.60, the strongest since September 2021.
On his second day of testimony to Congress, Fed Chair Jerome
Powell reaffirmed his message from Tuesday of higher interest
rates at a potentially faster pace, but stressed that a policy
decision later this month would hinge on economic data.
"Powell's main scenario is still for a 25 basis-point hike,
so he wanted to send a warning to the market - that's my
interpretation," said Kenji Abe, an equity strategist at Daiwa
Securities.
Meanwhile, "there's not much rationale to justify BOJ action
this week", with inflationary pressures still relatively subdued
and time-sensitive just before the end of the fiscal year, Abe
said.
(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and
Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
