TOKYO: Tokyo stocks rallied further on Thursday, closing at their highest level since July 2008 with exporters the main beneficiaries as the dollar approaches the 100 yen mark.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange ended up 1.96 percent, or 261.03 points, at 13,549.16. The Topix index of all first-section issues finished up 2.34 percent, or 26.25 points, at 1,147.29.
A huge global recall issued by four of Japan's automaking titans shortly before the markets closed failed to register on stocks that were all well up on the day.
"While the dollar is likely to hit 100 yen -- perhaps as early as (Thursday) -- over time, it's not likely to stop there," said Tatsunori Kawai, chief Strategist at kabu.com Securities.
"The next target to watch will be 105 yen. Technically, the yen is merely correcting to the half-way point of its fall from 2007-2011. It's conceivable that it could fall much farther than that," he told Dow Jones Newswires.
The yen, which hit its postwar high of 75.32 to the dollar in late 2011, was at 99.70 in late afternoon Tokyo trade.
The dollar last topped 100.00 yen in April 2009. A lower yen helps Japanese exporters as it makes their products more competitive abroad and increases their income when repatriated.
The market was also watching for an expected missile test by North Korea.
South Korean and US forces raised their alert status to "vital threat" Wednesday as the Pentagon warned a bellicose Pyongyang it was "skating very close to a dangerous line".
Less than an hour before the final bell, four automakers announced a global recall of around 3.39 million vehicles over problems with a passenger airbag.
But the news was barely given a second glance in a bullish market.
Toyota gained 5.81 percent to close at 310 yen, Nissan rose 4.40 percent to 1,043 yen, Honda was up 3.13 percent to 3,945 yen and Mazda added 3.96 percent to 315 yen.
But Takata, the manufacturer of the airbags at the centre of the recall plunged 9.00 percent to 1,819 yen.
Among other exporters, Toshiba was up 3.08 percent at 534 yen, while Sharp was up 7.93 percent at 313 yen at the close after the Nikkei business daily reported that its second-half earnings figures will be better than expected.
The paper said Sharp was likely to report more than 20 billion yen in group operating profit from October 2012 to March 2013, reversing a year-before loss of 71.1 billion yen.
The figure would surpass Sharp's profit projection of 13.8 billion yen after payroll cutbacks and increased sales of LCD panels to Samsung Electronics following its capital tie-up with the South Korean giant. (AFP)
