TOKYO: Japan stocks rose, led higher by insurers, while exporters climbed as the yen held losses against the dollar after a global selloff of equities. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average briefly surpassed 19,000 for the first time since 2000.
Nissan Motor Co. which gets more than 77 percent of revenue abroad, added 2.8 percent as the weaker yen boosted the outlook for export earnings. Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. climbed 2 percent after Jiji Press said the company was considering a dividend increase for policy holders. Brother Industries Ltd. dropped 5.7 percent as the maker of office equipment agreed to buy Domino Printing Sciences Plc for $1.6 billion.
The Topix index climbed 1.4 percent to 1,546.63 in Tokyo, its highest close since December 2007. All but two of its 33 industry groups rose. The Nikkei 225 added 1.4 percent to 18,991.11, an almost 15-year high, after rising to as much as 19,008.13. The yen traded at 121.34 per dollar after weakening 0.3 percent Wednesday.
“The weakening yen is helping out today,” said Yoshito Sakakibara, an economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s asset-management unit in Tokyo. “Exporters don’t actually need the yen to weaken much more than this because even at these levels we’re seeing a recovery in exports.”
Japanese export volumes rose the most in four years in January, driven by increasing demand from Asia and the U.S.
