The stock market in Tokyo, Japan is trading in the positive territory on Tuesday morning, led by exporters such as Honda Motor and Nintendo on weaker local currency, Japanese yen against the US dollar, and favorable economic data released in the US on Friday last related to non-farm payrolls. The Japanese stock market, which was closed for a holiday on Monday, opened strongly on Tuesday morning, partially lifted by the economic data related to non-farm payrolls in the US. Market participants believe that the world's largest economy and the biggest export market for Japanese products, the US, might avoid recession, overcome the recent crisis in subprime market delinquencies and weaker housing market and sustain economic growth. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is presently trading at 17,169.96, up 104.92 points, while the broader TOPIX Index is trading at 1,666.71, up 9.80 points. The US dollar is presently quoted at 117.24/28 Japanese yen, compared to previous closing in the range of 116.49/52 yen on Friday evening at 5.00 p.m. in Tokyo. Exporters led the gains in the market on weaker yen against the US greenback. The economic data released in the US with regard to non-farm payrolls on Friday has raised the expectations that the US will avoid the recession and demand for goods and services from Japan will continue to grow. Major exporters such as Honda Motors and Nintendo led the gains in the market. The share price of Honda Motor, the second biggest automaker in the world, advanced by 2%, while the share price of Nintendo, the leading maker of best-selling Wii video-game consoles, advanced by 1.9%. Real estate shares were also trading in the positive territory on expectations that the Bank of Japan, in its forthcoming meeting, will keep the interest rates unchanged. The share price of Mitsui Fudosan, the largest real estate developer in the country, advanced by 3%, while the share price of Mitsubishi Estate, the second largest property developer in the country, advanced by 2%. However, the gains in the market indices was partially offset by drop in share price of commodity related stocks such as Impex Holdings, on weaker commodity and oil prices in the international market. A measure of six commodities traded in the London Metals Exchange declined sharply by 2.9% on Monday. Of the commodities, the price of Copper declined by 3.1%,while the price of zinc and nickel declined by 4% and 3.4% respectively. The price of crude oil declined 2.7% in the international market. Crude oil for November delivery closed at US$79.02 a barrel. The share price of Inpex Holdings, the largest oil explorer in the country, declined by 2.5%, while the share price of Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., the second biggest explorer in the country, declined by 1.2%.
October 9, 2007 12:02 AM
