Japan's Nikkei ends higher as chip-related shares gain on Advantest's forecast

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TOKYO, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average ended higher Thursday, as investors snapped up chip-related shares after Advantest raised its full-year profit forecast.

The Nikkei .N225 rose 0.25% to 39,513.97. After opening 0.28% lower, the benchmark moved between modest gains and losses during the session.

"DeepSeek shock has not completely faded, but investors were relieved to see the positive outlook of Advantest," said Seiichi Suzuki, chief equity market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute.

Stronger Nasdaq futures during Asian trade also supported Japanese chip-related shares, said Suzuki.

Advantest 6857.T, a supplier to U.S. chipmaker Nvidia NVDA.O, hiked its full-year operating profit forecast by 37% on Wednesday due to strong demand for its testing tools for chips used in artificial intelligence tasks.

Shares of the chip-testing equipment maker rose 3% in volatile trade. The stock opened lower on profit-booking before rising as much as 6.9%.

"Advantest still has not regained confidence from investors as the stock has not recouped its losses made in the past few sessions," said Suzuki.

The stock has lost 12.5% so far this week, heading for its biggest weekly loss since late November, as the rising popularity of Chinese startup DeepSeek's AI model has called into question sky-high valuations for Nvidia and others at the forefront of the AI revolution.

Chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron 8035.T rose 1.87%.

Technology start-up investor SoftBank Group 9984.T fell 1.06% to weigh the most on the Nikkei.

Of the 225 components of the Nikkei index, 141 stocks rose and 81 fell, with three trading flat.

The broader Topix .TOPX gained 0.23% to 2,781.93.

Tire makers jumped 2.88% to become the top gainer among the Tokyo Stock Exchange's (TSE) 33 industry sub-indexes.

Of the more than 1,600 stocks trading on the TSE's prime market, 66% rose and 30% fell, with 3% trading flat.