TOKYO, March 3 Reuters Japanese shares eked out gains on Wednesday as investors picked up cyclical stocks on hopes of a quicker economic recovery from the pandemicled recession.

However, gains were capped by worries about bond market volatility and talk of huge selling for rebalancing this month.

The Nikkei average ticked up 0.18 to 29,459.71, with its 25day moving average at 29,273 providing a support for now. The broader Topix rose 0.15 to 1,897.64.

Investors bought cyclical shares with cheap valuation, such as steelmakers, automakers and trading houses.

Nippon Steel rose 4.1, while Nissan Motor rose 2.8. Trading house Marubeni rose 3.3.

Topix Value Index rose 0.77 as growthoriented shares lost 0.48, led by declines in highflying momentum shares as well as chiprelated stocks, in a sign of investor caution against their lofty valuation.

Electricmotor maker Nidec fell 3.1 while medical portal operator M3 lost 2.1. Chipmaking machine maker Tokyo Electron shed 1.8.

As the Topix has risen about 35 so far in the current Japanese financial year ending on March 31, market players are getting wary the countrys pension funds could sell a large amount of shares for rebalancing by the financial yearend.

Many investors are still not sure whether a selloff in global bonds, which hit the market in recent weeks, is over, despite signs of some stability in the last few sessions.

The market is looking to a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday. Fridays…