TOKYO: Tokyo stocks surged 1.03 percent on Wednesday as the yen plunged to a fresh seven-year low against the dollar, while the Dow ended at another record high on Wall Street.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 182.69 points to 17,845.91, while the Topix index of all first-section shares rose 0.63 percent, or 9.03 points, to 1,436.88.
Dealers said some investors were buying ahead of Japan’s December 14 election, which is expected to see Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party hold its majority. Abe has described the vote as a referendum on his programme to kickstart the economy.
The dollar marched toward the 120 yen mark, last seen in mid-2007, on a batch of encouraging US data that show the world’s largest economy continues to improve. A weak yen is a positive for Japanese exporters as it makes them more competitive abroad and inflates repatriated profits.
In morning forex trade, the greenback bought 119.38 yen, up from 119.22 yen in New York Tuesday afternoon.
The Commerce Department said Tuesday that US construction spending rose 1.1 percent in September, almost twice as much as expected, while industry specialist AutoData said the car industry saw a healthy 4.6 percent increase in sales last month.
Also, US online sales rose 16 percent year on year on Monday, according to the Adobe 2014 Digital Index.
The estimate for Cyber Monday, often seen as the annual high point for online retail, helped offset disappointing data on the “Black Friday” kickoff of the holiday shopping season.
The upbeat figures helped push up the Dow up 0.58 percent to a new record, while the S&P 500 added 0.64 percent and the Nasdaq rose 0.60 percent.
In Tokyo share trading, Otsuka Pharmaceutical dropped 4.89 percent to 3,675.5 yen after saying Tuesday that it would buy small, money-losing US drugmaker Avanir Pharmaceuticals for $3.54 billion.
Auto parts maker Takata rose 2.91 percent to 1,376.0 yen after announcing it has recruited several former senior US transport officials to advise it as it comes under pressure over its faulty airbags that have been linked to several deaths and numerous injuries, reported AFP.
