TOKYO: Tokyo stocks ended above the 20000 mark for the first time in three weeks on Tuesday, as a firm dollar and satisfaction with earnings results continued to fuel demand for investor-friendly shares.
Investors now await the release of Japan preliminary gross domestic product figures due Wednesday before the market open.
The Nikkei Stock Average ended up 0.7 per cent at 20026.38, following Monday’s 0.8 per cent gain. The index last closed above 20000 on April 28.
“The (Nikkei’s) return to the 20000 mark is not by itself remarkable, since the index had been consolidating for a few weeks after rising almost 12 per cent through April,” said Kenichi Hirano, CEO at K Asset Management. “With most major earnings reports now completed, the market is looking for ‘organic’ growth in the face of little likely policy help from major central banks. With valuations looking broadly full, investor focus is on individual shares with prospects for added appreciation.”
“Earnings weren’t quite the ‘stink bomb’ they appeared at first sight, but they hardly shot the lights out,” said CLSA equity strategist Nicholas Smith, noting that net profits rose 6 per cent, with current fiscal year profit growth guidance at about 4 per cent. “Market direction will likely be decided by investors’ corporate governance assertiveness and by the pace of the consumption recovery.”
The dollar continued to edge higher — a plus for exporters. The greenback ended the stock trading session at Y119.93 after crossing the Y120 mark intraday.
Major market movers included Nikkei heavyweight Fast Retailing, which added 2.0 per cent, TDK, which gained 2.4 per cent, and home products maker Kao, which rose 2.9 per cent.
TDK saw more buying from last week, following positive brokerage appraisals of the firm’s announcement to form a joint venture with Taiwan’s Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, a world leader in IC package assembly and testing.
