Tokyo stocks closed 1.98 percent higher Wednesday, following sharp rises in New York and Europe sparked by higher oil prices and growing optimism about a possible deal to renegotiate Greece's debt. The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange jumped 342.89 points to 17,678.74, while the Topix index of all first-section shares climbed 1.77 percent, or 24.61 points, to 1,417.00.
"With oil having rallied for four days and reached a one-month high, there's a growing sense that it has bottomed out," Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager at SMBC Nikko Securities, told Bloomberg News. The Dow jumped 1.76 percent on Tuesday as oil prices surged on news of a cut in the number of rigs drilling, while energy giants slashed their budgets. Rising crude eased market fears that the steep drop in the commodity signalled trouble for the global economy.
In Europe, equity markets and the euro were up on hopes of a resolution in Greece's debt talks. Anti-austerity Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis have been touring European countries seeking support for their plan to restructure debt repayments. Varoufakis is pushing the idea of debt swaps that would avoid the need for creditors to accept losses on the country's 315-billion-euro ($361-billion) foreign debt, while easing the monthly financing burden on Athens.
In Tokyo, a weaker yen - down to 117.74 yen, from 117.57 yen in US trade - was a plus for exporters, with Toyota rising 2.35 percent to 7,728.0 yen, while Sony jumped 2.65 percent to 2,769.0 yen. Rising oil prices lifted energy firms. Japan's biggest petroleum explorer Inpex soared 2.56 percent to 1,417.0 yen. The country's biggest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ, surged 5.16 percent to 654.1 yen after it announced better-than-expected earnings on Tuesday. Panasonic slipped 1.98 percent to 1,330.5 yen despite saying it was on track for a buoyant full-year net profit. Sharp dropped 4.48 percent to 234.0 yen a day after it reversed its fiscal year profit forecast, warning of a $256 million loss.
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