TOKYO: Tokyo stocks soared 2.29 percent on Wednesday to close at their best level in over five years, following record-setting gains on Wall Street and on the back of a weak yen.
The benchmark Nikkei added 337.61 points to close at 15,096.03, the highest finish since December 28, 2007, while the Topix index of all first-section shares ended up 1.79 percent, or 22.05 points at 1,252.85.
"Renewed yen weakening should help Japan stocks to set fresh highs, helped by fresh investor fund flows and faith in an accelerating global economy," said SMBC Nikko Securities general manager of equities Hiroichi Nishi.
Trading on Japan's premier bourse was heavy, with "the numbers reflecting a wide range of participation -- from domestic individuals to overseas foreign funds, and could lend strong staying power to the market", Yoshihiro Okumura, general manager at Chibagin Asset Management, told Dow Jones Newswires.
Foreign investors have been piling into the Tokyo market in recent months, helping send it rocketing to multi-year highs as a new government in Japan vows to stoke the long-stagnant economy.
A sharply weaker yen, pushed down by huge easing moves from the Bank of Japan, has helped inflate financial results for Japanese exporters. The weakening currency makes Japanese firms more competitive abroad and boosts the value of repatriated foreign income.
In Wednesday stock trading Sony shares soared after a US hedge fund, one of its biggest investors, called on the company to sell off part of its entertainment unit, with the shares jumping 10.38 percent to 2,072 yen.
Sharp dropped 12.80 percent to 463 yen after the embattled electronics giant announced a record fiscal full-year loss on Tuesday, while Toyota rose 2.50 percent to 6,370 yen and Canon added 2.74 percent to 3,750 yen.
In forex trade, the dollar bought 102.21 yen, hardly changed from levels in New York late Tuesday.
Overnight, US stocks surged to new all-time closing highs on renewed optimism after a prominent hedge fund manager said the stock rally of 2013 still had room to go higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.82 percent to a record 15,215.25 while the broader S&P 500, also reaching a new high, added 1.01 percent to 1,650.36. (AFP)
