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Nikkei rises on hopes of dovish Fed; Japan Tobacco tumbles

Pedestrians look at an electronic board showing the stock market indices of various countries outside a brokerage in Tokyo October 20, 2014. REUTERS/Yuya Shino/Files

TOKYO(Reuters) - Japanese stocks rose on Wednesday, moving away from a 6-1/2-week low as hopes of a continuation of the U.S. Federal Reserve's dovish stance helped sentiment recover, while Japan Tobacco Inc tumbled. Japan Tobacco, which is highly exposed to crisis-hit Russia, dived 7.8 percent on heavy volume and contributed a hefty negative 10 points to the Nikkei. It was the fourth most traded stock by turnover. Goldman Sachs said Russia contributes 20-25 percent of its operating profits, and a 1 percent rouble depreciation reduces its profit by almost 3 billion yen. The rouble has fallen 20 percent since the start of the week and more than 50 percent this year. The Nikkei benchmark ended 0.4 percent higher at 16,819.73, moving away from 16,672.94 hit earlier in the day, the lowest level since Oct. 31. The broader Topix shed 0.1 percent to 1,352.01, while the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 dropped 0.2 percent to 12,259.36. (Reporting by Ayai Tomisawa; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)