By Ayai Tomisawa
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese stocks soared on Thursday and posted their biggest gain in nine months in a turnaround just as dramatic as the previous day's plunge, as markets reassessed the economic implications of Republican Donald Trump's shock U.S. presidential election victory.
Automakers and financials that were battered on Wednesday were bought back after the dollar jumped back against the yen in sympathy with receding risk-aversion and rise in U.S. Treasury yields.
Expectations of higher inflation and economic growth under Trump, whose key policy priorities include generous tax cuts and higher infrastructure and defence spending, spurred the sudden reversal in market sentiment.
The Nikkei share average (N225) ended 6.7 percent higher to 17,344.42, posting the biggest daily percentage gain since mid-February. It more than recouped the 5.4 percent loss on Wednesday in its biggest daily drop since Brexit in June.
"A lot of people took comfort from Trump's post election speech, and I think he made it clear the distinction between "the candidate Trump" and "the President Trump," said Kei Okamura, assistant investment manager at Aberdeen Investment Management K.K.
Okamura said that Trump's tone was seen as more balanced, calling for unity within the U.S.
"In any economy, a divided nation does not help growth. He took a more conciliatory tone... it's something that helped some investors," Okamura said.
CAUGHT IN VORTEX
With the market seeing extremely volatile trade for the past two days, some investors scrambled to reposition themselves quickly, traders said.
"Those who dumped shares and hedged against further drops have no choice but to buy back immediately. It's like, they were being slapped in the face first by a surprise win by Trump, but hammered again by an unexpected surge in stocks in the next day," said Takatoshi Itoshima, chief portfolio manager at Commons Asset Management. "Wherever they go, they are hit and bruised. It's been a market like that."
Exporters which stumbled on Wednesday were bought back, with Toyota Motor Corp (T:7203) soaring 6.0 percent and Honda Motor Co (T:7267) jumping 9.0 percent.
Financials also attracted strong buying, with Nomura Holdings (T:8604) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (T:8306) each soaring 11 percent.
"Investors are puzzled with their emotional investment decisions. They were risk averse yesterday, then after seeing that Americans were optimistic chasing the market higher, they wasted no time reversing their positions," said Takuya Takahashi, a strategist at Daiwa Securities.
"Some of the investors must be thinking that they shouldn't have sold after all."
The broader Topix (TOPX) soared 5.8 percent to 1,376.35, with all of its 33 subsectors rising. The JPX-Nikkei Index 400 (JPXNK400) gained 5.9 percent to 12,351.63.