Equities make steep rises in Japan on economy hopes

In Tokyo on Thursday, the equities markets closed at four-year highs on continuing indications that the economy was continuing its recovery. The Nikkei and Topix indexes were both higher for the fourth day in a row as the Nikkei 225 ended the session up 1.37 percent at 12,226.32 and the Topix added 1.29 percent to 1,243.74.

Insurance, banks, and securities brokers were all up on the day. The insurance sub-index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 6.3 percent as Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance gained 8.8 percent to ¥1,147 on strong income in their first quarter. Sompo Japan added 8 percent to ¥1,210 and Nippon Koa was up 3.3 percent to ¥777. All saw strong interest from foreign investors. The banking sub-index saw a 3.7 percent rise on the day. SMFG was up 6.6 percent to ¥812,000, MTFG gained 3.5 percent to ¥1,010,000, while Mizuho Financial Group added 3.1 percent to ¥531,000.

The securities sub-index was up 3.7 percent. Diawa Securities gained 1.6 percent to ¥722, Nomura Securities, Japan’s largest broker, was up 2.7 percent to ¥1,460, and Nikko Cordial rose by 4 percent to ¥542 as it announced plans to return 50 percent of its annual recurring profits as dividends. New gains in crude oil prices sent the oil and coal sub-index up 3.2 percent. Nippon Oil gained 4.7 percent to ¥873, while Inpex added 3 percent to ¥851,000.