Stocks in Japan rose on Monday amid rising bets of the U.S. Federal Reserve introducing rate cuts early next year. These bets also propelled the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 as they continued their winning streak last week, thereby overshadowing concerns over shipping companies rerouting shipments amid security concerns in the Red Sea.
Japan’s Nikkei index rose 0.26% to close at 33,254.03, with the Topix edged 0.04% higher to 2,337.40. “The gains were limited as investors hesitated to make active bets with the close of overseas markets on the Christmas holiday,” Takehiko Masuzawa, trading head at Phillip Securities Japan observed. Masuzawa added that the only obvious trading trend was the downturn in shipping stocks.
Shifting the focus to individual stocks, chipmaking equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron rose 0.48% while Fast Retailing gained 0.62%. Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest slumped by 1.49% while cosmetics maker fell by 3.22%.