TOKYO: Tokyo stocks rose 1.71 percent Wednesday ahead of a crucial European Union summit that will focus on tackling the eurozone debt crisis.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 147.01 points to close at 8,722.17. The broader Topix index of all first-section issues rose 1.57 percent, or 11.62 points, to 749.63.
"It's unknown how the summit will go, but so far we see signs that eurozone nations are working together," Hideyuki Ishiguro, supervisor at investment strategy at Okasan Securities, said.
"That's giving the market some sense of relief," he told Dow Jones Newswires.
The two-day talks, starting on Thursday, are seen as crucial to containing the debt crisis that has gripped the eurozone and saving the single currency.
A call by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to set uniform tough budget standards across the eurozone raised hopes that the region would take decisive moves to end its fiscal woes.
The pair backed automatic sanctions against member states whose budget deficits rise above three percent of gross domestic product.
US stock markets were mixed with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing 0.43 percent higher on Tuesday, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.23 percent and the broader S&P 500 gained 0.11 percent.
The euro firmed in Asia ahead of the summit, fetching $1.3422 and 104.34 yen in afternoon trade, compared with $1.3397 and 104.14 yen in New York late Tuesday.
Scandal-hit Olympus fell 5.21 percent to 1,128 yen on profit-taking after six consecutive days of gains.
The company held a news briefing Wednesday to discuss the findings of a panel that said two former presidents backed a plan to cover up massive losses stretching back to the 1990s.
Shares in Meiji Holdings rose 5.13 percent to 3,175 yen following a 9.72 percent plunge on Tuesday after radioactive contamination was found in its baby milk formula.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.