tokyo jan 5 reuters  japans nikkei closed marginally higher on wednesday as gains in bluechip stocks such as sony group and toyota motor outweighed weakness in technology heavyweights fuelled by fears of early us interest rate hikes the nikkei share average n225 rose 01 to 2933216 after falling into negative territory multiple times during the day while the broader topix topx gained 046 to 203927 the mothers index mthr of startup firms slumped 5 to its lowest since may 2020 as prospects of early rate increases by the us central bank drove a selloff in expensive growth stocks with interest rates in the united states likely to rise soon investors sold companies whose pers priceearnings ratios were high said ikuo mitsui a fund manager at aizawa securities on the other hand companies with strong fundamentals attracted investors for example toyota is a favourable stock as its production is expected to recover this year and the weakened yen could boost its earnings toyota 7203t rose 257 extending its rally after the automaker outsold general motors gmn in the united states in 2021 marking the first time that the detroit automaker has not led us auto sales for a full year since 1931 read more sony group 6758t jumped 367 to become the biggest contributor to the nikkei as the game maker unveiled plans to launch a company this spring to examine entering the electric vehicle market read more the insurance sector iinsut was the top gainer with a rise of 316 among the exchanges 33 industry subindexes on hopes that higher interest rates were likely to boost profits us treasury yields for most maturities rose overnight as investors geared up for interest rate hikes from the federal reserve by midyear to curb stubbornly high inflation