By Rocky Swift
TOKYO Japan's Nikkei index extended its climb to scale a near 33-year high on Tuesday, with trading houses and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing leading the gains on technical support for heavyweight shares ahead of the fixing of special quotation prices.
The Nikkei recouped from early losses to close nearly 1% higher at 32,506.78. The index ended at its highest level since July 1990.
The broader Topix rose 0.74% to 2,236.28.
Ahead of the June 9 setting of special quotation prices used to set values on index options and futures, "stocks with a large contribution to the index were speculatively bought, supporting the market," said Takashi Nakamura, a senior strategist at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute.
Shares of Fast Retailing climbed 1.73%, contributing the most to the Nikkei's advance, while trading company Mitsui & Co jumped 3.86%.
Mizuho Financial Group slipped 0.49%, leading the losses among lenders on reports the U.S. regulators may enact tougher capital requirements following recent bank failures. Advantest slid 2.18% after chip-related peers declined in U.S. trading.
The Nikkei has surged 15% in the past three months, outpacing major global indexes. A technical indicator, known as the 14-day relative strength index (RSI), for the gauge stood at 79, above the 70-mark indicating an overheated market.
"The last few days feel like generally broader buying compared to the last couple of weeks of May," said Mio Kato, the founder of LightStream Research. "Maybe investors more familiar with are Japan rotating a little out of the AI theme, for example, to get broader exposure."
Trading houses and mining companies led gains among the 33 industry sub-indexes on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, rising 2.5%. Banks led losses, sagging 0.78%.
Nitto Denko, a maker of protective films that supplies Apple, climbed 0.9% after the iPhone maker unveiled a costly new augmented-reality headset.
(Reporting by Rocky Swift and Nobuyo Saito in Tokyo; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
