Japan's Nikkei ticked up in a choppy Monday morning as investors scooped up cheap stocks, but the gains were contained by weakness on Wall Street and falling US tech shares.

The Nikkei share average edged up 0.1 per cent to 22,268.45 in midmorning trade after opening lower. The benchmark index fell to as low as 22,046.29, but the traders said that futures buying supported the market.

“Investors are buying on the dip today, while futures buying seemed to have kicked in when the index neared the 22,000 level,” said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.

Analysts also said that a modestly softer yen also supported the sentiment. Overall, however, they said investors remained cautious as the US Federal Reserve looked set to deliver another rate hike in December, while fresh signs of a slowdown in the Chinese economy kept equities under pressure on Monday.

Domestic demand sensitive stocks outperformed, with food, drug and land transport firms rising. Ajinomoto gained 0.8 per cent, NH Foods advanced 2.4 per cent, Takeda Pharmaceutical added 1.1 per cent and East Japan Railway jumped 1.0 per cent.

Tech shares underperformed after the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index fell 1.9 per cent and the Nasdaq dropped 1.7 per cent. Advantest Corp dived 5.8 per cent and TDK Corp shed 3.6 per cent. Elsewhere, Mitsui Fudosan rallied 3.6 per cent after the realtor raised its net profit forecast to ¥163 billion from ¥153 billion for the year ending March 2019 thanks to strong condo sales.

The broader Topix was up 0.1 per cent at 1,674.08. Advancing issues slightly outnumbered declining ones 1,032 to 1,000.

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