Japanese Stocks Rally as Yen's Retreat Gives Boost to Exporters
Japanese stocks rose, halting a two-day slump, as weakness in the yen provided a boost to automakers and tech companies.
Topix rose 0.7% to 2,574.69 as of 9:19 a.m. Tokyo time. Nikkei 225 advanced 1% to 36,569.17.
Toyota Motor contributed the most to the Topix's gain, increasing 2.7% after the yen weakened more than 1% against the dollar overnight, before gaining 0.4% to 141.91 per dollar on Wednesday. Out of 2,131 stocks in the index, 1,774 rose and 252 fell, while 105 were unchanged.
Mining and oil-related stocks rose as oil steadied after closing at the highest in more than two weeks amid growing tensions in the Middle East.
"While carmakers and chip-related companies are likely to be bought up, there is a strong wait-and-see attitude ahead of the Fed and BOJ meetings this week," said Mitsushige Akino, president of Ichiyoshi Asset Management.
Traders are split on the size of the Federal Reserve's likely interest rate cut later on Wednesday, while the Bank of Japan is expected to hold on Friday.
29 of the 33 sector indexes on the Tokyo Stock Exchange advanced; Tokyo Stock Exchange TOPIX Transportation Equipment Index was the best performer, while Tokyo Stock Exchange TOPIX Air Transportation Index fell the most
The MSCI AC Asia Pacific Index was up 0.2%, Topix Index is up 8.8% year-to-date, vs. MSCI AC Asia Pacific Index up 8.4%.
Topix Index members are trading at 13.6 times their estimated earnings for the next 12 months.
Source : Bloomberg
