Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose past 10,000 for the first time since June, led by financial companies on speculation an improving economy will boost earnings, and as the euro advanced against the yen. MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc. gained 4 percent after the Nikkei newspaper said the insurer will sell about 300 billion yen ($3.6 billion) in shareholdings. Resona Holdings Inc., Japan’s fourth-largest bank, jumped 6.8 percent. Canon Inc., a camera maker which gets 30 percent of its revenue from Europe, climbed 1.3 percent. Showa Denko K.K., a maker of electronic materials, climbed 6.3 percent after UBS AG increased its investment rating to “buy.” The Nikkei 225 rose 2.1 percent to 10,013.63 in Tokyo, the highest close since June 22. The broader Topix index increased 2.2 percent to 868.81, the most among Asian equity indexes. More than 21 times as many stocks advanced as declined. All of the 33 industry groups in the Topix gained. “The economic situation is good globally and that’s supporting the financial market,” said Yoshinori Nagano, a senior strategist in Tokyo at Daiwa Asset Management Co., which oversees about $104 billion. “People no longer worry that the U.S. economy will slow down, and concerns about the yen’s appreciation have eased.” The Topix has declined 4.3 percent in 2010, compared with gains of 5.7 percent by the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in the U.S. and 5.3 percent by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Japanese benchmark are valued at 15.3 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 13.9 times for the S&P 500 and 12 times for the Stoxx 600. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 7.8 percent this year. The euro advanced to 113.24 yen as of 12:50 p.m. in Tokyo from 112.66 at yesterday’s close of stock trading. The Irish government will hold talks with the European Union, International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank “over a number of days,” a Finance Ministry spokesman said yesterday, easing concern Ireland’s debt crisis will spread. To contact the reporter for this story: Akiko Ikeda in Tokyo at iakiko@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net.

Source