TOKYO: Tokyo stocks closed 2.43 per cent higher on Monday as
the yen sank on reports Japan is set to nominate Asian Development Bank president Haruhiko Kuroda as the next central bank governor.
The
benchmark Nikkei 225 index jumped 276.58 points to
11,662.52, while the Topix index of all
first-section shares rose 1.79 per cent, or 17.22 points, to 980.70.
Japan's
leading Nikkei business daily and other media
reported that Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet would nominate Kuroda as the next central
bank governor, a move likely to push the yen down further on speculation that
it will usher in more aggressive monetary easing.
"Kuroda's
reported selection is unquestionably a positive for stocks, as reflected in the
yen's reaction," SMBC Nikko Securities general manager of equities
Hiroichi Nishi told Dow Jones Newswires.
Kuroda is a supporter of Abe's prescription for Japan's
ailing economy: big spending and aggressive easing, which tends to weigh on the
yen. A weaker yen helps make Japan's exporters more competitive overseas.
Major
exporters rose with Toyota Motor up 1.37 per cent at 4,795 yen and Sony 3.39
per cent higher at 1,340 yen, while Canon rose 1.80 per cent to 3,375 yen.
Fast
Retailing, operator of the Uniqlo cheap chic clothing chain, jumped 3.29 per
cent to 26,000 yen.
In afternoon
forex trade, the dollar bought 94.23 yen from 93.37 yen in New York late
Friday, while the euro fetched 124.44 yen from 123.18 yen.
Electronics
maker Sharp plunged 5.16 per cent to 294 yen following news reports that it
would suspend tie-up negotiations with Taiwan's Hon Hai and search for new
capital partners.
The Tokyo stock market also got a
positive lead from Wall Street, where the Dow jumped 0.86 per cent to 14,000.57 Friday on
renewed confidence that the US Federal Reserve's stimulus programme would
continue.
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