Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Japanese Stocks Rise on Weaker Yen; Toyota, Mizuho Advance

By Kiyori Ueno

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks advanced, led by exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp., after the yen weakened against the dollar, increasing the value of their overseas sales.

``The weaker yen is a positive support to the market,'' said Juichi Wako, a strategist at Nomura Securities Co. in Tokyo.

Financial stocks such as Mizuho Trust & Banking Co. also gained after a New York Times report that billionaire Warren Buffett will buy a stake in Bear Stearns Cos., raising speculation that lenders will recover from the subprime crisis.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 189.92, or 1.2 percent, to 16,625.66 as of 9:19 a.m. in Tokyo. The broader Topix index gained 22.31, or 1.4 percent, to 1,598.33. All 33 industry groups in the Topix gained.

Nikkei futures expiring in September climbed 1.1 percent to 16,680 in Osaka and rose 1 percent to 16,655 in Singapore.

In other Asian markets, Australia's Standard & Poor's ASX/200 Index gained 0.5 percent and South Korea's Kospi Index added 1.6 percent.

The yen recently traded at 115.46 against the dollar, down from 114.76 at yesterday's equity market close.

Last Updated: September 26, 2007 20:21 EDT

No comments: