Japanese stocks rose, driving up the Nikkei 225 Stock Average by the most in seven weeks, as the dollar strengthened after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it will expand record measures to support the world’s largest economy. Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest carmaker, and Canon Inc., the No. 1 camera maker worldwide, both gained more than 2 percent. Fast Retailing Co., Asia’s biggest clothing chain, surged 8.1 percent after its Uniqlo chain posted its smallest domestic sales decline in three months. Tokyo Electron Ltd., the world’s second-biggest maker of semiconductor equipment, climbed 3.1 percent after boosting its profit and dividend forecasts. Since the Fed’s measures “were close to what people had expected, a sense of ease spread,” said Mitsushige Akino, who oversees about $450 million in assets in Tokyo at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. “Since the scale of easing was moderate, there are still hopes for further easing.” The Nikkei 225 rose 2.2 percent to 9,358.78 at the 3 p.m. market close in Tokyo, the biggest gain since Sept. 15 and the most among benchmark Asia-Pacific indexes. The broader Topix climbed 1.6 percent to 816.33 after seven consecutive decreases. More than seven times as many shares advanced as declined. The Nikkei 225 has slumped 11 percent this year, the most among the world’s 40 largest equity markets. Today’s advance boosted the average price of stocks in the gauge to 16.6 times estimated earnings, the highest level in a month. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 0.1 percent today. The index gained 0.4 percent to a six-month high of 1,197.96 yesterday in New York as banks rose after the Fed said it will buy an additional $600 billion of Treasuries through June. In elections on Nov. 2, Republicans seized control of the U.S. House and narrowed the Senate’s Democratic majority in elections shaped by voter anxiety over jobs and the economy. To contact the reporter for this story: Akiko Ikeda in Tokyo at iakiko@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Darren Boey at dboey@bloomberg.net.

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