LOS ANGELES: Japanese stocks posted some solid gains at the Monday open, helped in no small part by a weaker yen as the dollar USDJPY, +0.12% rose to ¥119.94, up from late Friday’s ¥119.34.
The Nikkei Stock Average NIK, +0.15% rose 0.5%, carrying on from a 0.1% improvement in the previous session, while the Topix was 0.4% higher.
The currency-sensitive tech and industrial stocks were among the leading gainers, with Casio Computer Co. 6952, -0.33% CSIOY, -1.67% up 2.2%, TDK Corp. 6762, -0.12% TTDKF, -2.87% up 2.5%, Komatsu Ltd. 6301, +0.60% KMTUF, -5.16% up 1.1%, Murata Manufacturing Co. 6981, +0.95% MRAAF, +3.54% up 1.8%, and Panasonic Corp. 6752, +1.51% PCRFF, +2.13% enjoying a 1.6% boost after hiking its year-end dividend. On the other hand, Sony Corp. 6758, -2.02% SNE, +0.68% fell 1.3%, possibly weighed by some profit-taking after a 2% rally on Friday. Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. 9432, +2.61% NTT, -0.64% saw its shares rise 2.3% following a Nikkei report Saturday that one of its units was in late-stage talks to buy German data-center operator E-Shelter for about $830 million. Among other notable movers, Sekisui House Ltd. 1928, +3.26% rose 2.4%, Astellas Pharma Inc. 4503, +2.45% ALPMF, +1.10% added 2.5%, Obayashi Corp. 1802, -0.49% OBYCF, -2.17% fell 1.4%, and Japan Display Inc. 6740, -4.29% pulled back by 2%.
