Tokyo stocks up 1.53pc by noon

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks rose 1.53 percent Tuesday morning after Wall Street rallied overnight on robust consumer spending data.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 135.10 points to 8,986.45. The broader Topix index of all first-section issues soared 13.52 points or 1.78 percent to 772.35.

The US consumer spending data and a slightly weaker yen spurred the rebound of exporters and financial stocks that have been battered in recent weeks, said Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior market analyst at online brokerage firm Monex.

"We also see a renewed appetite for risk as funds are moving away from 'defensive' stocks such as pharmaceuticals and retail stocks", which tend to be stable even amid economic slumps, he told Dow Jones Newswires.

Manufacturers also received a boost from the easing of power shortages in Japan that had been caused by suspensions of nuclear reactors after the March tsunami.

Japan's government announced it would lift two-month-long mandatory power restrictions for large users in the greater Tokyo area on September 9, about two weeks earlier than planned, because enough electricity was now available.

Reaction to finance minister Yoshihiko Noda's election Monday as ruling Democratic Party of Japan leader -- and expected confirmation as prime minister on Tuesday -- was limited.

Automakers rose, with Nissan up 3.26 percent at 696 yen and Honda up 2.58 percent at 2,477 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rose 3.29 percent to 345 yen. Among technology shares, Sony jumped 4.03 percent to 1,703 yen.

The market was unmoved by earlier data showing that Japan's jobless rate stood at 4.7 percent in July, up 0.1 percentage point from the previous month, excluding figures from the disaster-hit northeast of the country.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011