TOKYO: Tokyo stocks surged 4.94 percent Monday on the back of a weaker yen and better-than-expected US jobs data.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which lost 6.51 percent last week, closed up 636.67 points to 13,514.20, while the Topix index of all first-section issues soared 5.21 percent, or 55.02 points, to 1,111.97.
Tokyo's rally was helped by a sharply weakened yen after the US Labor Department said the economy added 175,000 jobs in May.
The figure was better than expected, but analysts said it was not enough to prompt the Fed to pull back on its easy-money policies.
The dollar rose to 98.38 yen from 97.56 yen late Friday in New York and 96.44 yen in Asia on Friday.
The next indicators out of the United States are retail sales and factory output, which will provide fresh signs about the state of the world's largest economy.
"The (jobs) figures were moderate, which reduced concerns over the Fed's reeling in its bond-buying programme soon," said Kenji Shiomura, strategist at Daiwa Securities.
"The yen dropped as risk aversion receded," Shiomura added.
A weaker yen tends to help lift Tokyo shares as it helps improve the profitability of Japanese exporters.
Investors are also keeping an eye on a two-day policy meeting at the Bank of Japan, ending Tuesday, for fresh signs of further policy moves.
"Players are now anxious to see if the Bank of Japan will announce any changes to current policy" Kenichi Hirano, market adviser at Tachibana Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
Adding to buying sentiment were revised data showing Japan's economy grew more than expected in the first three months of the year, expanding at an annualised rate of 4.1 percent, up from 3.5 percent.
The data were likely to lend more support to Tokyo's efforts aimed at powering the world's third-largest economy with a sweeping plan that includes structural reforms, big government spending, and aggressive monetary easing.
Major exporters were higher thanks to the weak yen as Toyota surged 8.57 percent to 5,950 yen, Sony rose 6.79 percent to 1,980 yen and Canon was up 3.13 percent at 3,285 yen.
Sharp soared 15.21 percent to 462 yen after the electronics firm said it would receive the second half of an investment totaling more than 10 billion yen ($102 million) from Qualcomm by late June. (AFP)
