Japan shares end higher as U.S. stocks rebound, presidential debate eyed

By Stanley White
TOKYO, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Japanese shares closed at a
seven-month high on Tuesday, tracking U.S. stocks that rose
overnight after investors sought to buy beaten-down names after
a sharp sell-off last week, with eyes on the Trump-Biden
presidential debate.
The Nikkei 225 Index .N225 erased early losses and ended
0.12% higher at 23,539.10, the highest since Feb. 20. However,
the broader Topix .TOPX fell 0.23% to 1,658.10.
Japanese stocks had opened lower after telecom major NTT
9432.T said it was eyeing a bid to take complete ownership of
its mobile unit NTT Docomo 9437.T in a tender offer that could
be worth around 4 trillion yen ($38 billion). The potential deal hit shares of NTT and rival mobile
carriers, but investors started to buy shares of other companies
in the communications sector, which helped the broader market
turn around.
The focus is now on the first debate in the U.S.
presidential election between Republican incumbent Donald Trump
and Democratic challenger Joe Biden later in the day.
"There is some cautious optimism about the U.S. economy, but
the biggest question that equities face is who emerges with the
advantage from the presidential debate," said Kiyoshi Ishigane,
chief fund manager at Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management.
The stocks that gained the most among the top 30 core Topix
names were NTT Docomo Inc 9437.T which rose 15.78% to its
daily limit, followed by electronics maker Keyence Corp 6861.T
gaining 3.68%.
NTT's shares fell 2.58% due to worries about the cost of the
acquisition.
Rival mobile carriers KDDI Corp 9433.T and SoftBank Corp
9434.T both fell by 4.14% as the tender offer could increase
pressure to lower mobile phone fees.
There were 61 advancers on the Nikkei index against 160
decliners.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board .TOPX was 1.14 billion, matching the average over
the past 30 days.