Roundup: Tokyo stocks close higher on year-end dividend buying, Nomura tanks

Tokyo stocks closed higher Monday as investors bought a broad range of stocks to secure the right to end-of-year dividends before the issues turn ex-dividend at the end of this month.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average added 207.82 points, or 0.71 percent, from Friday to close the day at 29,384.52.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, gained 9.18 points, or 0.46 percent, to finish at 1,993.34.

Trading got off to a bright start, local brokers said, following a solid lead from Wall Street late last week on hopes for the U.S. economy following positive economic data earlier in the week, with momentum building in vaccination campaigns also contributing to hopes for the outlook of the United States and broader global economy, brokers here said.

"Investors are buying companies, particularly manufacturers that would benefit from the recovery of the global economy, and whose earnings are set to rise in the coming years," Shigetoshi Kamada, general manager for the research department of Tachibana Securities, was quoted as saying.

In Tokyo trading, market strategists said that investors snapped-up a wide range of issues Monday in order to secure the right to year-end dividend payouts, although the market's gains were capped by brokerage Nomura Holdings Inc. saying that an event involving transactions between a U.S. subsidiary and a U.S. client may have amounted to a loss of 2 billion U.S. dollars.

While saying that the result of the loss on its financial results was yet to be fully known, Nomura said its financial foundations and that of its subsidiary remained sound, sources close to the matter said.

"Investors were concerned there will be more financial institutions that could be hurt by similar losses and that impacted investor appetite," Hideyuki Ishiguro, senior strategist, Daiwa Securities, was quoted as saying.

By the close of play, retail, rubber product and machinery-oriented issues comprised those that advanced the most.

Nomura Holdings plunged 16.3 percent following the possible loss at its subsidiary, with financial-linked issues here also lost ground on the issue.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 1.8 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group ended the day more than 1 percent lower.

Technology issues advanced on a more optimistic outlook for the global economy. Chip-related issues finding favor included Advantest adding 2.6 percent, Tokyo Electron climbing 3.3 percent and Screen Holdings closing the day 2.0 percent higher.

Nikkei heavyweight Fast Retailing, the operator of the Uniqlo brand of casual clothing shops, gained 0.9 percent, although fellow heavyweight SoftBank Group ended 1.7 percent lower.

Issues that rose outpaced those that fell by 1,225 to 900 on the First Section, while 68 ended the day unchanged.

On the main section on Monday, 1,826.32 million shares changed hands, rising from Friday's volume of 1,282.70 million shares.

The turnover on the first trading day of the week came to 3,715.30 billion yen (33.89 billion U.S. dollars). Enditem