AP: Japan stocks lifted by higher commodities prices
TOKYO (AP) - Japanese stocks climbed Wednesday, led by resource companies benefiting from higher commodities prices.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average rose 107.80 points, or 1.1 percent, to 9,799.60 as part of overall regional gains. The broader Topix index added 1.6 percent to 885.69.
Oil prices rose above $71 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as hopes for a global economic recovery boosted expectations that crude demand will grow.
On Tuesday, investors seeking safety from a falling dollar and inflation sent gold prices surging to a new high of $1,045 an ounce, surpassing a previous intraday high of $1,033.90 logged in March 2008 after Bear Stearns Cos. collapsed.
Shares of oil and non-ferrous metals companies jumped as a result, with Nippon Oil Corp. up 3.1 percent at 493 yen. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. advanced 5.4 percent to 1,532 yen, and Mitsubishi Materials Corp. soared 6.6 percent to 259 yen.
Banks also made big strides as concerns about new equity issuance eased.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's biggest bank, closed up 5.1 percent to 499 yen. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. surged almost 7 percent to 3,380 after Nomura Securities Co. raised its target price on the issue.
On the losing end was NTT DoCoMo Inc., which fell 1.7 percent to 136,900 yen. Japan's biggest mobile carrier gained a net 66,000 new subscribers in September, about 42 percent fewer than a month earlier.
In currencies, the dollar was trading at 88.22 yen from 88.76 yen late Tuesday. The euro stood at $1.4716 from $1.4722.
