Friday, Tokyo shares opened higher, helped by the overnight Wall Street surge and a weaker yen. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index was advancing 147.04 points or 0.93% to 16,021.12, while the broader Tokyo Stock Price Index of all First Section Issues or TOPIX was gaining 18.21 points to 1,570.48. The Nikkei 225 index has advanced above the 16,000 level for the first time since November 7. Exporter stocks led the gains. On the economic front, Japan's foreign exchange reserves expanded by $15.70 billion from the end of October to touch $970.19 billion at the end of November, according to the Japanese Finance Ministry. The country has the second-largest foreign exchange reserves in the world after China. Japan's revised GDP growth for the third quarter was up 0.4% from the prior quarter, down from the preliminary report of a 0.6% increase from the previous quarter, the Cabinet Office said Friday. The revised figure reflected a 1.5% increase from a year ago, down from an increase of 2.6% increase as per the preliminary report. At 10.40 a.m., the U.S. dollar was quoted at 111.36-111.41 yen, up 0.43 yen from Thursday's closing of 110.89-110.91 yen in Tokyo. The dollar gained against the yen following the announcement of a White House plan to help troubled homeowners with subprime mortgages in the U.S. In the tech space, Sony gained 1.33%, Advantest advanced 0.58%, Fanuc added 0.45% and Matsushita Electrical Industrial improved 0.21%. Also, Minebea advanced 1.13%, NEC improved 0.19%, Fujitsu gained 0.90% and Oki Electric Industry rose 2.09%. Kyocera declined 0.29%. Among brokerages, Nikko Cordial added 0.30%, Nomura Holdings improved 0.24% and Shinko Securities climbed 1.76%. However, Daiwa Securities eased 0.35%. Among automakers, Honda rose 1.83%, Mazda gained 1.37%, Nissan added 1.76% and Toyota climbed 1.44%. Suzuki remained unchanged. Trading house Itochu gained 4.07%, Marubeni gained 3.17%, Mitsubishi rose 3.27% and Mitsui soared 5.23%. Also, Sojitz advanced 2.17% and Sumitomo climbed 1.88%. In the insurance sector, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance improved 0.71%, Sompo Japan Insurance rose 3.07% and T&D Holdings gained 3.98%, while Millea Holdings lost 1.45%. Among banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group edged up 0.08% and Resona Holdings improved 0.46%, while Mizuho Financial Group eased 0.31% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group declined 0.21%. Oil stock Nippon Oil climbed 1.90%, Nippon Mining Holdings advanced 1.42% and Showa Shell Sekiyu KK gained 1.75%.
December 6, 2007 9:29 PM