TOKYO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Japanese shares rose on Wednesday, underpinned by overnight strength on Wall Street, as investors hunted for companies that reported strong results as the earnings season nears its peak.
By 02:01 GMT, the Nikkei share average rose 0.8% to 27,500.36, while the broader Topix advanced 0.72% to 1,950.72.
Wall Street ended sharply higher overnight, lifted by big technology firms such as Apple and Microsoft, while a jump in Treasury yields elevated bank stocks ahead of a key inflation reading this week.
"The U.S. market has raised sentiment. And investors hunted for companies that reported strong earnings," said Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management.
"Also investors seem to have digested the caution for the U.S. monetary policy tightening,"
Heavy machinery maker IHI surged 10% and was the top performer on the Nikkei after the company tripled its annual operating profit forecast.
Nissan Motor advanced 4.17% after the automaker raised its full-year profit outlook as it squeezed out more profit per vehicle.
Toyota Motor rose 1.79% ahead of its earnings announcement later in the day.
Steel makers led gains among the exchange's 33 industry subindexes, with JFE Holdings jumping 9.36%.
Technology investors SoftBank Group climbed 5.22% after it has shelved its blockbuster sale of Arm Ltd to U.S. chipmaker Nvidia Corp and will instead seek to list the company.
Game contents developer DeNA tumbled 8.39% and was the worst performer on the Nikkei, followed by cement maker Taiheiyo Cement, losing 6.46%, and a construction firm Taisei, down by 3.64%.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's main board was 0.63 billion, compared to the average of 1.19 billion in the past 30 days. (Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
