THE JAPAN NEWS


 

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The benchmark Nikkei average advanced further to end at its highest level in about 22 months on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Tuesday, supported by the yen’s weakening against the dollar and U.S. equities’ advance overnight.

The 225-issue Nikkei average jumped 162.66 points, or 0.81 percent, to 20,230.41, its highest finish since Aug. 18, 2015. On Monday, the key market gauge climbed 124.49 points.

The TOPIX index of all First-Section issues ended up 11.18 points, or 0.7 percent, at 1,617.25, after rising 10.03 points the previous day.

Tokyo stocks attracted purchases as investors took heart from the dollar’s rise above ¥111.50 after William Dudley, president of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of New York, on Monday showed confidence in the U.S. economy’s outlook, brokers said.

The Tokyo market was also boosted by U.S. equities’ firmness that sent the Dow Jones industrial average rising to a fresh record high on Monday, they said.

The Nikkei’s advance was attributed to “gains in some heavyweight components, including semiconductor-related Tokyo Electron,” said Hideyuki Suzuki, head of the investment market research department at SBI Securities Co.

If the dollar rises above ¥112, the Nikkei average could reach 21,000, Suzuki predicted.

The market’s topside “was capped by selling to lock in profits as the Nikkei rose above 20,300 temporarily,” an official of a bank-affiliated securities firm said.

Rising issues far outnumbered falling ones 1,532 to 389 in the First Section, while 99 issues were unchanged. Volume rose to 1,836 million shares from Monday’s 1,484 million shares.