Japanese shares hit fresh 30-year high on robust corporate earnings

TOKYO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Japanese shares rose sharply on Monday, with both Nikkei and Topix hitting 30-year highs, as strong corporate earnings lifted investor confidence for an economic recovery from pandemic lows.

The Nikkei share average .N225 jumped 2.09% to 29,380.12 by 0210 GMT, the highest level since August 1990, while the broader Topix .TOPX rose 1.75% to 1,923.96, the highest since June 1991.

"With the vaccine rollouts and the fall in the number of daily COVID-19 infections, expectations for normalization of the economy is rising," said Soichiro Matsumoto, chief investment officer Japan at Credit Suisse Private Banking.

"Better-than-expected corporate performance in this environment is also lifting sentiment. Many U.S. firms have reported upbeat results and Japanese companies, particularly those sensitive to overseas demand, are following suit."

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes on Friday scored their biggest weekly percentage gains since early November, powered by earnings optimism and progress on vaccine rollouts, while Democrats cleared the path for the approval of President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. .NnL1N2KB0UF

At home, steel makers led Nikkei's gains, with Kobe Steel 5406.T surging 13.94% on raising its full-year outlook and Nippon Steel 5401.T jumping 9.1% after trimming its annual net loss forecast. JFE Holdings 5411.T rose 6.57%.nL4N2K8253

Toyota Motor 7203.T gained 1.67% ahead of its earnings report on Tuesday. Its autoparts affiliates Denso 6902.T and Aisin Seiki 7259.T, up 1.56% and 2.89% each, had raised their outlook last week.

Railway shares continued to gain, with Odakyu Electric Railway 9007.T jumping 4.57%, Keio 9008.T rising 4.61% and East Japan Railway 9020.T gaining 4.09%.

The stocks that gained the most among the top 30 core Topix companies were SoftBank Group 9984.T, which is set to report earnings on Monday, rising 5.81%, followed by Daikin Industries Ltd 6367.T gaining 4.96%.

The underperformers among the Topix 30 were Sony Corp 6758.T, falling 1.81%, followed by Daiichi Sankyo 4568.T, which lost 0.86%.

(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

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