Japanese Stocks Climb on Oil, Weaker Yen; Mitsubishi, Sharp, Toshiba Gain

Bloomberg Jan 12--Japanese stocks rose as oil and metal prices increased, and a weaker yen boosted the outlook for Japanese export earnings.

Mitsubishi Corp., Japan’s largest commodities trader, climbed 1 percent. Sharp Corp., Japan’s biggest maker of liquid- crystal displays, gained 1.1 percent. Toshiba Corp., an electronics maker, increased 1.9 percent after the Nikkei newspaper said the company will spend 100 billion yen （$1.2 billion） to upgrade its computer systems.

Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.5 percent to 10,564.30 as of 9:19 a.m. in Tokyo. The broader Topix index gained 0.8 percent to 933.99 with about five times as many stocks advancing as falling.

“A recovery in the global economy and excess liquidity are leading to rising stock prices,” said Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager in Tokyo at Nikko Cordial Securities Inc.

The Bank of Japan said in October it will spend 5 trillion yen to buy financial assets while the Federal Open Market Committee decided in November to buy $600 billion of Treasuries through June.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed today. The index gained 0.4 percent yesterday in New York as Sears Holdings Corp. and Lennar Corp. reported earnings or forecasts, and as higher oil prices boosted energy shares.

Crude oil for February delivery advanced 2.1 percent to $91.11 a barrel in New York yesterday, the highest settlement since Jan. 3. The London Metal Exchange Index of prices for six industrial metals including copper and aluminum jumped 1.7 percent yesterday, ending four straight declines. Copper futures rose 2 percent yesterday, the biggest gain in almost four weeks.

Yen Weakens

The yen depreciated to as low as 108.27 against the euro yesterday in New York, compared with 107.48 at the close of stock trading in Tokyo. Against the dollar, Japan’s currency weakened to 83.49 from 83.03. A weaker yen boosts the value of overseas income at Japanese companies when repatriated.

The Topix lost 1 percent last year, compared with gains of 13 percent by the S&P 500 and 8.6 percent by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Japanese benchmark were valued at 16.1 times estimated earnings on average at the last close, compared with 13.4 times for the S&P 500 and 11 times for the Stoxx 600.

To contact the reporters on this story: Akiko Ikeda in Tokyo at iakiko