TOKYO: Tokyo stocks closed at a fresh nine-month high on Wednesday with exporters gaining on a weaker yen as energy stocks followed oil prices upward.
"It's gradually turning to a bull market," said Yoshinori Shigemi, a global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.
"There are two factors -- one is faster growth in the US economy, and another is a stronger dollar, meaning a weaker yen," he told Bloomberg News.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 1.10 percent, or 194.06 points, to 17,862.21, the best level since early February, while the broader Topix index of all first-section issues was up 1.33 percent, or 18.67 points, at 1,421.65.
The dollar rose as positive US data Tuesday fuelled speculation that increased fiscal spending under the Donald Trump administration would cause higher inflation, pushing the Federal Reserve to hike its key interest rate more aggressively than earlier thought.
"The yen's dip to levels around 109 to the dollar is lifting hopes for better earnings from exporters," said Seiichi Miura, a strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co.
The dollar was trading at 109.01 yen Wednesday against 109.16 in New York Tuesday afternoon.
Nintendo ended up 2.77 percent at 25,550 yen after rising over five percent earlier on the game giant's announcement that it will release its highly anticipated Super Mario Run for Apple's iPhone on December 15.
Toyota gained 2.01 percent to 6,186 yen and Panasonic rose 1.17 percent to 1,034.5 yen.
Higher oil prices pushed up energy stocks. Oil explorer Inpex soared 2.95 percent to 1,045 yen and Japan Petroleum rose 2.28 percent to 2,332 yen.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group advanced 6.18 percent to 682.8 yen.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.