Tokyo shares close higher

• Tokyo stocks closed higher, boosted by Wall Street advances and rises in chip-related shares.
• The dollar fetched 134.79 yen in Asian trade, against 134.94 yen in New York.
• Japan’s core consumer prices rose 2.1 percent.

Tokyo shares closed higher, boosted by Wall Street advances and rises in chip-related stocks.

The Nikkei 225 index advanced 1.23 percent, or 320.72 points, to 26,491.97, while the Topix index gained 0.81 percent, or 14.98 points, to 1,866.72.

“The rise of the Dow index yesterday gave a sense of relief,” Okasan Online Securities said, with the Tokyo market boosted by gains in shipping and chip-linked shares.

The dollar fetched 134.79 yen in Asian trade, against 134.94 yen in New York.

Advantest, a major producer of tools to build semiconductors, jumped 3.50 percent to 7,390 yen while chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron soared 3.98 percent to 46,730 yen.

Read More: Tokyo shares end up after surges on Wall Street

Shipping shares were also higher with Nippon Yusen rising 2.00 percent to 9,140 yen and Mitsui OSK Lines growing 3.91 percent to 3,025 yen.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group gained 2.37 percent to 5,224 yen.

Automakers were lower, with Toyota falling 0.70 percent to 2,111.5 yen, Honda losing 1.42 percent to 3,320 yen and Nissan dropping 1.16 percent to 544.5 yen.

Core consumer prices in Japan climbed 2.1% in May, the second straight monthly rise at a level not seen in seven years.

Read More: Tokyo shares close higher

The increase was in line with market estimates and comes on the heels of a 2.1 percent increase in April. The Bank of Japan regards current inflation as temporary and is maintaining its cheap monetary policy even as other countries raise interest rates to combat inflation.