WSJ:Tokyo Shares Rises As Concerns Ease Over Euro-zone Break-Up
By Kosaku Narioka
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Tokyo stocks rose Monday as concerns eased over a near-term break-up of the euro-zone after European leaders took their first step toward fiscal integration late last week, helping growth sensitive stocks such as Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Nippon Steel.
The Nikkei Stock Average rose 117.36 points, or 1.4%, to 8653.82 following the prior session's 1.5% fall.
The Topix index of all the Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section issues rose 8.57 points, or 1.2%, to 746.69, with 32 of 33 subindexes ending in positive territory.
The trading volume was relatively thin, however, totaling about 1.5 billion shares.
The Nikkei opened higher and gradually extended its gains during the session after European leaders took the first steps towards fiscal integration at the European Union summit late last week, although the U.K., a non euro-zone member, opposed an EU-wide treaty change.
"There had been concerns that even some euro-zone nations may oppose a deal (towards fiscal integration) and discussions may stall, but at the end, they moved together," said Yumi Nishimura, senior market analyst at Daiwa Securities.
Eased concerns over the integrity of the euro-zone followed a better-than-expected University of Michigan U.S. consumer sentiment index for December released Friday and China's recent shift to a easing policy, adding to expectations for a global economic recovery, strategists said.
Still, the European sovereign debt crisis is far from over. Much still depends on how fiscal talks evolve going forward, said Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities. "There will be many pivotal moments," he said.
The near-term focus is on how Standard & Poor's responds to last week's pact, strategists said.
Growth-sensitive stocks such as shippers and steel firms rose sharply amid improved global growth prospects.
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines gained 6.4% to Y299, and Nippon Steel added 3.1% at Y198.
Among individual movers, Toshiba rose 3.3% at Y348 after a Wall Street Journal story that said Toshiba's Westinghouse Electric unit earned two key votes of confidence Friday on the nuclear reactor design slated to be used at a dozen new nuclear power generating units in the U.S.
Meanwhile, Toyota Motor lost 0.7% to Y2,617 after the company on Friday cut its net profit outlook for the current fiscal year by more than half.
Trading company Sojitz declined 1.6% to Y125 after the firm lowered its fiscal 2011 earnings outlook on Friday to a Y12 billion group net loss, compared to a prior view of a Y16 billion net profit.
March Nikkei 225 futures closed up 100 points, or 1.2%, at 8620 on the Osaka Securities Exchange.
-By Kosaku Narioka, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-6269-2784; kosaku.narioka@dowjones.com
