Japan’s Nikkei advanced to a fresh 27-year high on Tuesday as stronger earnings hopes underpinned sentiment, while Ono Pharmaceutical jumped.
Shares of the pharmaceutical company soared on news that a Nobel Prize was awarded to researchers for a cancer-fighting method used in its drug Opdivo.
The Nikkei share average rose 0.2 per cent to 24,286.30, hovering at level not seen since November 1991, reports Reuters.
The Nikkei scored a 27-year high on the prospect of stronger corporate earnings on the back of a weaker yen last Friday. The benchmark index has comfortably stayed above the 24,000-line.
The Nikkei soared 5.5 per cent in September, and its sharp gains in the short-period of time make the market prone to profit-taking, but the underlining mood remains positive, traders said.
The dollar surged to as high as 114.06 yen in the previous session, its strongest since November last year, before trading flat at 113.99 yen on Tuesday.
Exporters got a boost, with Toyota Motor Corp rising 1.6 per cent, Honda Motor Co <7267.T. adding 1.2 per cent, while Panasonic Corp soaring 3.0 per cent.
Shares of Ono Pharmaceutical Co jumped as much as 6.9 per cent to hit 3,430 yen, the highest level since August 2016.
On the weak side, discount clothing chain Shimamura Co dropped 3.2 per cent.
The broader Topix was up 0.4 per cent at 1,824.85.
