Tokyo stocks have soared, closing at their highest level in almost five years with the market driven by a weakening yen and after Wall Street hit fresh all-time highs on solid jobs data.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index on Tuesday added 3.55 per cent, or 486.20 points, to 14,180.24, its best finish since June 2008, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares was up 3.06 per cent, or 35.29 points, to 1,188.57.
Japan’s premier bourse has rocketed since late last year as Tokyo pledged to boost the world’s third-largest economy with a policy of big spending and aggressive central bank easing, which has helped push down the value of the yen.
That, in turn, tends to lift the local stock market as it makes exporters more competitive overseas and boosts the value of their repatriated foreign income, inflating profits.
The Japanese unit has lost about one-fifth on the US dollar in recent months with the greenback buying Y99.05 in afternoon Tokyo deals on Tuesday. It hit a record low around Y75 in late 2011, wreaking havoc on Japanese firms’ financial results.
“Stocks must account for a few sessions of most positive activity in overseas markets, which have resulted in a sharply weaker yen, all of which will be tonic for buying,” said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equities at SMBC Nikko Securities.
“Signs that the US economy is improving, as well as the ECB’s (European Central Bank’s) rate cut are most encouraging fundamentally.”
The ECB cut key rates to an all-time low of 0.50 per cent at a governing council meeting on Thursday, which ended after the Tokyo market closed for the holiday weekend.
Meanwhile, the US logged a surprisingly strong jobs report for April on Friday, boosting hopes for the world’s largest economy which has seen a mixed bag of indicators lately.
The US Labor Department reported the US economy added 165,000 jobs in April, and revised sharply upwards its numbers for the previous two months, helping to send the unemployment rate down to 7.5 per cent.
On Tuesday investors were also watching further news on North Korea after US defence officials said that the reclusive state had moved two missiles from launch sites on the country’s eastern coast.
The move could signal lowered tensions following worries Pyongyang was ready to test-fire the weapons.
In Tokyo stock trading, Sony climbed 6.39 per cent to Y1,731 ahead of its full-year earnings later this week while Canon was up 1.16 per cent to Y3,485, NEC climbed 2.00 per cent to Y254 and carmaker Nissan jumped 3.88 per cent to Y1,017.
US stocks closed mixed on Monday, with the broad-based S&P 500 edging up 0.19 per cent to a new all-time closing high of 1,617.50 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.03 per cent to 14,968.89.
