Japanese Shares Gain On Bargain Hunting; Topix Rises 1.73%

Stock markets in Japan advanced for the first time in five days Tuesday, bouncing up on bargain hunting after recent sharp sell-offs.

The Japanese benchmark Nikkei advanced 0.98 percent or 81.13 points to 8,376.76 and the Topix Index rose 1.73 percent or 12.03 points to close at 695.51 after it slumped to its lowest level in 28 years in the previous session.

The sentiment improved slightly Tuesday as investors are optimistic about the emergency teleconference among G7 leaders, who are expected to put more pressure on European leaders to act.

It's interesting to see what G7 will discuss ahead of the ECB meeting tomorrow. They might probably put pressure on the ECB to do something and such expectations will help support stocks, Eiji Kinouchi, chief technical analyst at Daiwa Securities, told Reuters.

Shares of exporters and automakers rallied as the yen declined against most of its counterparts. Mazda Motors climbed 6.74 percent and Honda Motors advanced 1.82 percent while Sony Corp surged 3.51 percent after plunging to the lowest level since 1980 in the previous session.

Camera maker Canon Inc's shares surged 3.59 percent after the company announced that it would buy back up to $638 million of its shares outstanding.

Nippon Sheet Glass rallied 11.94 percent on news that the company had no plans to raise capital and might stop work at more plants, reported Bloomberg citing the Nikkei newspaper.

South Korean shares rebounded Tuesday, led by gains from Blue chip and shipyard companies' shares. Benchmark KOSPI gained 1.2 percent or 21.38 points to 1,804.51.

Samsung Heavy Industries gained 3.12 percent and Daewoo Shipbuilding advanced 3.78 percent while LG Electronics surged at 4.71 percent.