By Myra P. Saefong
TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Japanese shares climbed Thursday morning in Tokyo as a pledge by the European Central Bank to continue stimulus measures fueled gains in overseas markets and helped lift the Nikkei Stock Average to its highest intraday level in more than 6 months. The Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NI225 10,160, -8.16, -0.08%) rose 0.6% to 10,230.07 after rising as high as 10,254.00, a level not seen since May 18. The broader Topix climbed by 0.7% to 883.12. Banks were among the gainers, with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. (JP:8316 2,610, +46.00, +1.79%) (SMFNF 31.10, +0.46, +1.50%) up 1.2% and Shinsei Bank Ltd. (JP:8303 78.00, +3.00, +4.00%) (SKLKF 0.86, -0.07, -7.57%) adding 1.3%. Some exporter stocks also climbed with Olympus Corp. (JP:7733 2,414, +67.00, +2.85%) (OCPNF 0.00, 0.00, 0.00%) up 1.9%. Shares of Yahoo Japan Corp. (JP:4689 31,300, +650.00, +2.12%) (YAHOY 124.00, +2.25, +1.85%) climbed 2.4% following news Thursday that Japan's antitrust regulators approved a Web-search tie-up between the internet portal and Google Inc. (GOOG 571.82, +7.47, +1.32%) . Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi (XX:$SEU 1,950, +20.94, +1.09%) traded 0.3% higher in early dealings. |
