Japanese equities reach their highest level in two and a half weeks due to commercial hopes and gains in the chip sector

* Nikkei index highest since July 5

* US and China reports on resumption of trade talks improve mood

* Semiconductor stocks boost IT earnings in the second quarter

By Hideyuki Sano and Tomo Uetake

TOKYO, July 24 (Reuters) – Japanese equities on Wednesday reached their highest level in two and a half weeks after the announcement of the US and Chinese negotiators meeting in Shanghai next week, prompting investors to buy back coins. cyclical, such as automobile, shippers and machine manufacturers.

The average Nikkei share rose 0.4% to 21,709.57, its highest closing level since July 5, while the broader Topix rose 0.4% to 1,575.09.

Bloomberg has announced that US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and senior US officials will visit Shanghai on Monday for talks with Chinese officials.

Loaders rose 1.0%, Nippon Yusen KK grew 1.5% and transportation equipment manufacturers 1.1%.

Toyota Motor rose 1.4% while Honda Motor increased 1.3%.

Nissan Motor recorded a 1.0% rise, along with its competitors, following its intention to expand the number of job cuts to more than 10,000 to redress the situation.

Semiconductor-related stocks continued to climb after the sector gained momentum thanks to better-than-expected quarterly results from Texas Instruments Inc.

TI posted a quarterly profit and revenue higher than Wall Street estimates Tuesday, easing the global slowdown in microchip demand.

Sumco Corp. jumped 4.5%, Advantest Corp rose 3.9% to a record high of 11.5 years and Screen Holdings Co Ltd by 2.6%.

"Washington is also easing its ban on Chinese company Huawei Technologies Co and the company's global smart phone shipments seem pretty solid," said Nobuhiko Kuramochi, chief strategist at Mizuho Securities.

"Overall, investors are starting to think that the semiconductor market will improve next year, due to the construction of data centers and 5G, etc., and they start buying shares. of semiconductors. "

By the way, the heavyweight of the SoftBank Group Corp. index rose 1.0% after the announcement, first announced by the Wall Street Journal, that the workspace manager shared WeWork, in which the SoftBank group invests, plans to become public as early as September, earlier than expected.

Japan's corporate earnings season for the June quarter kicks off with results from Canon Inc., Nidec Corp and Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. after market close on Wednesday. (Report by Hideyuki Sano and Tomo Uetake, edited by Jacqueline Wong)