By Akiko Ikeda Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose for a third day on increased U.S. sales for automakers and as higher gold and oil prices boosted commodities companies. Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s third-largest carmaker, gained 2.5 percent after an industry report said the company’s U.S. sales jumped 21 percent last month. Mitsubishi Corp., Japan’s biggest commodities trader, gained 2.2 percent as gold climbed to a record and crude oil settled at its highest price in two weeks. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. led banks lower on concern they’ll need to raise capital. This was the first trading day since the Bank of Japan outlined a 10 trillion-yen ($115 billion) program to revive economic growth. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.4 percent to 9,608.94 at the 3 p.m. close in Tokyo, after swinging between a drop of 0.6 percent and a gain of 0.7 percent. The broader Topix index gained 0.1 percent to 858.74, with about eight stocks declining for every seven that advanced. The Topix has fallen less than 0.1 percent this year, the only decline among the world’s 40 largest stock markets, as the stronger yen erodes the value of overseas earnings at Japanese companies and on concern the government will fail to revive economic growth. The yen advanced to a 14-year high last week and has averaged 93.89 against the dollar this year, the strongest since Bloomberg began tracking the exchange rate in 1971. That reduces the value of overseas earnings at Japanese companies when converted into their home currency. To contact the reporter on this story: Akiko Ikeda in Tokyo at iakiko@bloomberg.net.

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