TOKYO: Japanese stocks went from strength to strength early Wednesday, extending solid gains from the day before thanks in part to a further weakened yen. The Nikkei Stock Average NIK, +0.38% was quoted 0.4% higher about a half-hour into the session, with the index briefly surpassing the 20,900 mark, last hit in the summer of 1997. The Topix I0000, +0.27% was also 0.4% firmer as the dollar USDJPY, +0.09% floated up to ¥123.84 from its ¥123.40 level 24 hours earlier. Among gainers, Nissan Motor Co. 7201, +0.87% NSANY, +1.63% rose 2.1%, Kyocera Corp. 6971, +1.59% KYOCF, -1.15% added 1.1%, TDK Corp. 6762, +0.78% TTDKF, -1.39% added 1.6%, and Alps Electric Co. 6770, +2.41% APELF, +133.83% rallied 3.8% to sit 9% higher since reporting its fiscal-year results last Friday. Also on the move, trading house Itochu Corp. 8001, +2.54% ITOCY, +1.01% improved by 3.1% after taking a hit following news late last week that it was booking a roughly $1 billion loss by walking away from its stake in U.S. energy company Samson Resources, which it sold for a nominal price of $1. Despite the market’s uptrend, however, some of the biggest blue chips sat in the loss column, with Sony Corp. 6758, +0.05% SNE, +1.67% down 0.4%, Sharp Corp. 6753, -1.23% SHCAF, -4.93% down 0.6%, and Panasonic Corp. 6752, -0.08% PCRFF, +0.43% down 0.1% as the Nikkei reported it was closing its production of fluorescent lights in Indonesia. Shares of Konica Minolta Inc. 7731, -0.83% KNCAY, +1.37% were struck 2.1% lower amid news it planned to buy U.S. measurement-equipment company Radiant Vision Systems for about $240 million. Meanwhile, stock in Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. 5105, +4.30% climbed 3% after its president and other top executives announced their resignation over a fake-data scandal, according to a Nikkei report.
