Japan's Nikkei jumps 3% as precious metals sell-off pauses

By Junko Fujita

TOKYO, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average climbed 3% on Tuesday, rebounding from a decline posted in the previous session, after the sell-off of precious metals paused.

The Nikkei .N225 was up 3.05% to 54,261.71, as of 0127 GMT. The index erased most of its early gains to close 1.25% lower on Monday as prices of precious metals slumped.

The broader Topix .TOPX jumped 2.5% to 3,624.26 on Tuesday.

"The market was worried about the impact of the sell-off of the precious metals in the previous session on other assets. But the stocks in the U.S. and Europe were strong overnight," said Shuutarou Yasuda, a market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory.

"That prompted investors to scoop up the stocks in today's session," he said.

The market also welcomed robust U.S. factory activity data as a sign of the economy's strength, which also became a cue for the rally in Japanese stocks, said Yasuda.

The S&P 500 .SPX closed higher on Monday, lifted by gains in chipmakers and other companies related to artificial intelligence, while smaller companies also rose sharply. .N

The other two main indexes, the Nasdaq .IXIC and Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI, also edged higher.

In Japan, chip-testing equipment maker Advantest 6857.T rose 4.65% and chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron 8035.T climbed nearly 4%.

Optical fibre cable maker Fujikura 5803.T jumped 6.77%.

Shares of TDK 6762.T surged 11.5% after the electronic component maker raised its annual profit forecast for the year to March.

Yamaha Motor 7272.T fell 10% after the motorcycle maker cut its annual profit forecast for the year to December.

Of more than 1,600 stocks trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's prime market, 79% rose and 17% fell, while 3% traded flat.