Toyota Motor advances as Nikkei powers ahead

Nikkei:9,629.43 (+169.77) Hang Seng:21,859.97 (+9.38) Shanghai Comp:2,648.98 (+2.49)

TOKYO SPEARHEADED another day of gains for Asian stocks yesterday, as investors were relieved that the Greek government had survived a parliamentary vote of confidence – a crucial step for the country in avoiding a sovereign debt default.

The Nikkei 225 Average jumped 1.8 per cent – its biggest one-day rise for three weeks.

Toyota Motor gained 1.1 per cent to ¥3,240 and Oji Paper jumped 3.5 per cent to ¥382 following favourable broker comment on both stocks.

Sony rose 3.7 per cent to ¥2,012, Seiko Epson rose 3 per cent to ¥1,349 and Toshiba added 2.8 per cent to ¥400.

Jtekt, which supplies parts to Toyota, rose 3.2 per cent to ¥1,189 after forecasting that its net income would rise 20 per cent this fiscal year.

The Kospi index rose 0.8 per cent with SK Chemicals climbing 3.5 per cent to Won71,400 and refiner SK Innovation adding 2.2 per cent to Won212,500.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China eased 0.7 per cent to HK$5.80 while China Construction Bank shed 0.6 per cent to HK$6.40. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011)