“The Topix Index (TPX) climbed the most in a month, erasing losses from the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., as Japanese markets reopened from a holiday during which the yen slid and U.S. jobs data beat estimates.
Sony Corp. (6758), Japan’s No. 1 exporter of consumer electronics, rose 6.4 percent. Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) added 4.9 percent after the Nikkei newspaper reported the carmaker will beat profit estimates when it posts results tomorrow. Japan Steel Works Ltd., which forges reactor containment vessels, surged 16 percent after Japan won its first nuclear plant order since the Fukushima meltdowns.
The Topix rose 3.1 percent to close in Tokyo at 1,188.57, a level not seen since before Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 15, 2008. Japan’s broadest gauge of equities has rallied 65 percent since mid-November, making it the world’s best-performing major stock index, as the yen weakened amid optimism a change in government and central bank leadership will pull Japan out of deflation.
“We saw solid U.S. jobs data even though the market was nervous about downside risks, and that’s boosting stock buying,” said Isao Kubo, a Tokyo-based equity strategist at Nissay Asset Management Corp., which oversees about 5 trillion yen ($50.5 billion.) “As the yen has weakened, corporate forecasts suggest profits are going to improve a lot this year. The market likes that.”
After a record earthquake and tsunami, nuclear meltdowns and a surge in the yen, Japan is the last of the five biggest equity markets to recover to pre-crisis levels. Topix industry groupstracking consumer lenders and real estate companies led the recovery from the March 2009 bottom following Lehman’s collapse, almost quadrupling.
Nikkei 225
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average (NKY) today climbed 3.6 percent to 14,180.24, closing above 14,000 for the first time since June 2008. The exporter-heavy gauge recouped its losses from the Lehman shock on March 9….”
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