Tokyo stocks rose to a fresh 21-year high Thursday, brushing aside concerns about overheating as Honda jumped more than five percent after it raised its annual profit outlook. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.53 percent, or 119.04 points, to close at 22,539.12, the highest level since June 1996.
The broader Topix index was up 0.41 percent, or 7.37 points, at 1,794.08. The weak yen - a positive factor for Japanese exporters - as well as favourable corporate results of key companies were behind the gains, brokers said. "It is true that we can feel a sense of overheating in the market and it would be no surprise to see profit-taking emerging anytime," said Hikaru Sato, senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities.
"But the current market sentiment looks strong enough to reduce the concerns for now," Sato told AFP. The dollar was quoted at 113.90 yen after rising as high as 114.20 yen earlier in the session, against 114.12 yen in New York late Wednesday. Reports that US President Donald Trump has informed Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell that he will succeed Janet Yellen as the next Fed chief "will support Japanese shares", Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.
"The possibility of a rapid pace of US rate hikes was reduced" after the report, it said, as Powell is seen as holding a policy position close to Yellen, it said. Honda climbed 5.20 percent to 3,762 yen after Japan's third-largest automaker revved up its annual profit outlook, saying it now expects net profit of 585 billion yen ($5.0 billion) for the year to March 2018 instead of the earlier projected 545 billion yen.
Its rivals also climbed, with Toyota rising 1.66 percent to 7,155 yen and Nissan up 0.22 percent at 1,111.5 yen. ANA Holdings was down 0.67 percent at 4,428 yen on profit-taking after the airline upgraded its full-year forecasts, now expecting a record 132 billion yen for the current year to March 2018 from a previous estimate of 125 billion yen. Sony rose 2.76 percent to 5,054 yen after upgrading annual profits forecast and announcing plans to revive its robot pet dog.