Japanese Shares Hold Gain on Fed Hopes as Kishida to Step Down

Japanese shares notched up gains on hopes for lower US interest rates, though they pared some of their earlier advance on political uncertainty at home after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he will not run for a second term.

The Topix rose 1.1%, helped by strong moves in value stocks such as bank shares. It earlier rose as much as 1.8%. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed 0.6% higher after gaining 1.3%.