By Akiko Ikeda Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks rose, led by commodity companies as China’s imports and exports increased and prices of copper and gold gained, boosting confidence the global economic recovery will strengthen. Mitsubishi Corp., Japan’s biggest trading company, added 2 percent, and Mitsui & Co., the No. 2, advanced 3 percent. Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. jumped 5.6 percent after China’s imports rose to a record in December and the Nikkei newspaper said that Japanese steelmakers may increase production capacity. Japan Airlines Corp., Asia’s biggest carrier, plummeted 45 percent to a record on speculation it will file for bankruptcy. “The world economy is slowly recovering,” said Junichi Misawa, head of the equity-investment division at Tokyo-based STB Asset Management Co., which manages the equivalent of $14 billion. “Japanese stocks will gradually catch up with other markets as improved fundamentals are confirmed.” The Topix index rose 1.4 percent to 954.13 at 3 p.m. in Tokyo, with three stocks gaining for each that declined. It was the index’s sixth-straight advance and the best start for a year since at least 1981. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.8 percent to 10,879.14, the highest close since October 2008. Japan’s markets were closed yesterday, when the MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index added 1.2 percent. The Topix had the lowest return last year among benchmark indexes in the world’s 40 largest stock markets, climbing 5.6 percent, as a stronger yen hurt export earnings and on concern the government wouldn’t be able to restore growth. Stocks in the index trade at an average of 1.2 times book value, compared with 2.3 times for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in the U.S. and 1.7 times for the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index in Europe. To contact the reporters for this story: Akiko Ikeda in Tokyo at iakiko@bloomberg.net.

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