TOKYO: Tokyo stocks climbed 1.60 percent to close at their highest level in more than five years Wednesday, with investor appetite unabated due to a weak yen and record-setting levels on Wall Street.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 246.24 points to 15,627.26, the best finish since late December 2007. The Topix index of all first-section issues was up 0.44 percent, or 5.64 points, at 1,276.03.
Stocks maintained their gains after the Bank of Japan made its widely-expected announcement of no new easing measures.
"The influx of new capital from both domestic and foreign investors has helped prolong the current six-month rally," said Naoki Fujiwara, fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management.
The dollar was quoted at 102.60 yen in Tokyo late afternoon trade, up from 102.47 in New York late Tuesday, as Japan posted a worse-than-expected trade deficit for April.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 0.34 percent at a record 15,387.58 points on Tuesday, after a strong earnings report from Home Depot and as the market anticipates testimony in Congress by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.
Bernanke will be watched on Wednesday for signs that the Fed might be ready to alter its quantitative easing policy, or to project just when and how it might reel in its aggressive bond purchases.
In Tokyo stocks trade, Sony shares rose 5.87 percent to 2,290 yen after the Nikkei daily reported the firm was considering a proposal by major shareholder Third Point that it should spin off part of its movie and music business.
Revealing its medium-term business plan after the market close, Sony said it aims to make its loss-making television business profitable in the current business year with higher sales and cost-cutting.
There was no indication in the business plan of any intention to sell off any of its media businesses.
Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), the operator of the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, fell 9.57 percent to 737 yen after recent sharp rises.
Chubu Electric Power rose 1.42 percent to 1,495 yen on a Nikkei report that it would build a coal-fired power plant in Ibaraki prefecture north of Tokyo with TEPCO and sell some power in TEPCO's service area.
Mobile operator SoftBank was down 2.05 percent to 5,730 yen after media reports that US mobile network Sprint Nextel had begun talks with Dish Network with SoftBank's approval.
SoftBank still plans to acquire Sprint late this year, but its offer has since been rivalled by Dish's competitive bid. (AFP)
