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Japan’s Stocks Advance as Dubai Concerns Ease, Yen Stops Gains

11/29/09

By Akiko Ikeda and Kotaro Tsunetomi
(Bloomberg)- Japanese benchmark stock indexes rose the most in three months on speculation the impact from Dubai World’s request to delay debt payments will be limited and the yen stopped its gains.

Kajima Corp., a general contractor, gained 3.1 percent. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s largest bank by market value, jumped 5.2 percent. Sony Corp., which earns 75 percent of its sales abroad, gained 4 percent. Nissan Motor Co., a carmaker that gets about 75 percent of its revenue overseas, climbed 3.3 percent.

“Stocks that plunged last week due to a weaker dollar and the Dubai shock will rebound as the yen’s appreciation paused,” said Tomochika Kitaoka, a senior strategist at Mizuho Securities Co. in Tokyo. “Investors should be still nervous about the currency movement.”

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 2.2 percent to 9,280.04 as of 10:01 a.m. in Tokyo. The broader Topix index rallied 2.2 percent to 828.70. Both gauges advanced the most since Aug. 24.

Japanese contractors rebounded after the United Arab Emirates’ central bank eased credit for lenders and said it “stands behind” the country’s local and foreign banks as they face losses from Dubai World’s possible default.

Kajima Corp. rallied 3.1 percent to 166 yen from a 14 percent plunge on Nov. 27. Taisei Corp. rose 2.8 percent to 149 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ jumped 5.2 percent to 467 yen, the first gain in five days. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. advanced 4.8 percent to 2,745 yen, headed for the biggest gain since Oct. 7. Mizuho Financial Group Inc. climbed 4.7 percent to 155 yen, the most since Aug. 3.

Yen Weakens

The yen depreciated to 86.84, compared with 86.00, against the dollar at the close of stock trading in Tokyo on Nov. 27. On that day it rose to as much as 84.83, the strongest since July 1995. Against the euro, Japan’s currency weakened to 130.42 from 128.21. The weaker yen boosts the value of sales generated overseas when converted to local currency by Japanese companies.

Sony rose 4 percent to 2,355 yen, on course for the steepest advance since July 31. Nissan Motor rallied 3.3 percent to 625 yen. Canon Inc., the world’s largest camera maker which earns about 80 percent of its revenue from abroad, added 2.5 percent to 3,280 yen.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama yesterday ordered his Cabinet ministers to propose economic measures to deal with the impact of the strengthening yen, the Mainichi newspaper reported today, without saying where it obtained the information. The Asahi newspaper said yesterday Hatoyama and Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa may meet as early as Dec. 1 to discuss deflation and the yen’s appreciation.

Sumitomo Corp., Japan’s third-largest trading company by market value, advanced 4.8 percent to 851 after the stock was raised to “outperform” from “neutral” at Credit Suisse Group.

DeNA Co., an Internet auction operator, surged 7.6 percent to 455,000 yen, on course for the highest close since September 2008. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. analyst Masato Araki raised his rating on the stock to “outperform” from “market perform.”

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