TOKYO: Tokyo stocks jumped 2.64 percent on Wednesday, reversing a sharp drop the previous day, as investors took their lead from another Wall Street rally.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 391.49 points to finish at 15,195.77 and the broader Topix index of all first-section shares rose 2.58 percent, or 31.05 points, to 1,236.41.
The Nikkei suffered heavy selling last week and the start of this week saw it enjoy a four percent surge Monday and a two percent slide Tuesday.
But CLSA equity strategist Nicholas Smith told Dow Jones Newswires: "Now that the 'panic attacks' of the last several days are beginning to subside, we should see something of a recovery for the Tokyo market."
US stocks shot higher Tuesday, propelled by talk of broader monetary stimulus in Europe, while data out of China showed the economy growing quicker than expected, even though it was at its slowest pace since the start of 2009.
The Dow rose 1.31 percent and the S&P 500 jumped 1.96 percent.
The Nasdaq rallied 2.40 percent, helped by a strong Apple earnings report.
In Japanese trade Takata closed flat at 1,686.0 yen, after plunging nearly 23 percent on Tuesday in response to a call by US authorities for owners of vehicles with defective airbags made by the Japanese firm to seek repairs.
It was the latest in a string of bad news for Takata, which has been under fire for serious defects in its products.
In other trading telecom firm SoftBank jumped 3.30 percent to 7,289.0 yen, Toyota added 1.74 percent to 6,034.0 yen and Sony rose 3.36 percent to 1,909.0 yen.
Fujifilm rallied 4.13 percent to 3,539.0 yen after saying it would increase its supply of a promising experimental Ebola drug.
Investors appeared to shrug off data showing Japan's trade deficit widened in September to 958.3 billion yen ($8.96 billion), putting the world's number-three economy on track for a record annual shortfall.
The weak data stoked speculation the Bank of Japan will expand its monetary easing programme, which would tend to weaken the yen.
On currency markets, the dollar bought 106.92 yen in late afternoon trading, compared with 106.99 yen in New York. (AFP)
