BLBG: Nikkei 225 Rises Most in Two Months as U.S. Data Boosts Profit Outlook Q
Japanese stocks rose, pushing up the Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average the most in almost two months, after better-than-estimated U.S. economic data improved the earnings outlook for exporters.
Toyota Motor Corp. (7203), which gets 28 percent of its sales in the U.S. and Canada, rose 1.7 percent after demand for cars boosted orders for U.S. durable goods the most in four months. Sony Corp. (6758), Panasonic Corp. (6752) and other Japanese technology companies gained as shares of Apple Inc. dropped in afterhours trading following Steve Jobs’ resignation as the firm’s chief executive officer.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 1.5 percent to 8,772.36 at the 3 p.m. trading close in Tokyo, its biggest increase since June 29. The broader Topix index gained 1.3 percent to 751.82, with more than two stocks rising for each that fell.
“The U.S. economy weakened toward spring as people talked about a soft patch, but we’ve seen good data over the past month or so,” said Koichi Kurose, chief economist in Tokyo at Resona Bank Ltd. “There’s no need to be too pessimistic.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Yoshiaki Nohara in Tokyo at ynohara1@bloomberg.net; Satoshi Kawano in Tokyo at skawano1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net.
