Nikkei rises 1.9 percent

Japan's Nikkei average rose 1.9 percent on Thursday, its best daily performance in a month, buoyed by a jump in resource stocks as dollar weakness fuelled a climb in commodity prices. The market took in stride the yen's rise to a fresh 15-year high against the dollar, as some analysts said markets seemed to have already priced in quantitative easing by the US Federal Reserve early next month and the dollar's broad decline may soon run its course.
Robust earnings results from US heavyweights such as J.P. Morgan Chase & Co and Intel Corp bolstered investor confidence and helped to spur short-covering, analysts said, with some also citing large lots of Nikkei futures buying. "The yen's uptrend will likely continue, but market participants appear to be already beginning to factor in the possibility of a rebound in the dollar after the Fed launches quantitative easing as expected," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co.
The benchmark Nikkei ended up 180.00 points at 9,583.51. The 1.9 percent rise was its biggest daily percentage gain since September 15. The broader Topix rose 1.7 percent to 836.95. On the charts, the Nikkei's next upward targets stand near recent peaks: the first around 9,700 marked this month, and then near 9,800 hit in July. Strong support lies at the 38.2 percent retracement of its September-October rally and its 55-day moving average, both around 9,365.
Resource-related stocks were powered higher by a bull run for commodities, with copper hitting a 27-month high and gold returning to record peaks. Mitsui Mining and Smelting advanced 4.5 percent to 257 yen and Sumitomo Metal Mining rose 4.1 percent to 1,454 yen. JX Holdings, which owns Japan's top copper smelter Pan Pacific Copper, climbed 5.2 percent to 486 yen.
Japan's top oil explorer Inpex Corp rose 4.1 percent to 454,500 yen as oil approached a five-month high. Yahoo Japan Corp shot up 6.4 percent to 30,600 yen after a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that several private equity firms had approached Internet and media companies including News Corp and AOL Inc to gauge their interest in buying out Yahoo Inc.
Alps Electric Co rose 4.9 percent to 745 yen after the Nikkei business daily said the electronic parts maker was set to report more than 20 billion yen in operating profit for the half year to September, recovering from a 17 billion yen loss in the same period last year. About 2.18 billion shares changed hands on the Tokyo exchange's first section, down from a five-month high of 2.88 billion booked last Wednesday.