Nikkei snaps 5-day losing streak on bargain hunting

Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0. 66 percent on Wednesday as bargain hunting helped prop the index up after falling to a six month closing low following the previous day's sell off.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average rose 62.77 points, from Tuesday to 9,522.66. The Nikkei ended below 9,500 mark for the first time since Nov. 30 on Tuesday as concerns in the eurozone and shaky Asian markets, sparked a broad scale sell-off.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 0.82 point, or 0.10 percent, to 859. 00.

Brokers said that investor sentiment was palpably more optimistic on Wednesday following the previous day's slew of negative economic cues coming out of Europe and geopolitical uncertainty, stemming from tension in the Korean peninsular, causing a slump in Asian stocks, nudging investors to push the sell button.

Asian stock markets' largely firm performances Wednesday saw the negative mood turnaround somewhat and oversold Japanese shares were bought back, analysts said, although some experts said investors were taking a wait-and-see stance, in light of recent market volatility.

"The Nikkei broke below 9,500 and we saw buybacks of shares because there seemed to be a sense of being oversold," said Masumi Yamamoto, equity market analyst at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets Co.


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