Japan's Nikkei rises 1%, tech shares seen involved in $550 bln US deal gain

By Junko Fujita

TOKYO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Wednesday, set to snap a four-day losing streak, as technology firms that are seen as involved in Japan's $550 billion U.S. investment project gained.

The Nikkei .N225 rose 1% to 57,131.89 as of 0135 GMT and the broader Topix .TOPX was up 1.35% at 3,812.39.

President Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday announced three projects valued at $36 billion to be financed by Japan, including an oil export facility in Texas, an industrial diamonds plant in Georgia, and a natural gas power plant in Ohio.

The projects are the first investments under Japan's $550 billion U.S. investment pledge as part of a trade deal that cut Trump's tariffs on Japanese imports to 15%.

"Investors have been buying those stocks related to the Trump deal in the past several days," said Takamasa Ikeda, senior portfolio manager at GCI Asset Management.

Electronic components TDK 6762.T jumped 6.67%, while fibre optic cable makers Fujikura 5803.T and Furukawa Electric 5801.T rose 3.2% and 2.75%, respectively.

Technology investor SoftBank Group 9984.T, which is expected to be part of the project, fell 1.89% after the artificial intelligence sector was excluded from the list of initial projects.

Other decliners included memory chip maker Kioxia 285A.T, which slipped 3.64% to track a 5.7% drop in U.S. memory chip maker Sandisk SNDK.O overnight.

Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest 6857.T fell 0.84%.

Financial stocks rose, becoming the largest contributor to the Topix's gain.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group 8306.T and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group 8316.T rose more than 3% each. Mizuho Financial Group 8411.T gained 1.8%.

Of more than 1,600 stocks trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's prime market, 76% rose, and 20% fell, while 3% traded flat.