Nikkei Retakes 29,000 as Bull Market Extends to Third Day

Jiji Press

10:54 JST, May 2, 2023

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Tokyo stocks rose for the third straight market day Monday thanks chiefly to the yen’s depreciation, sending the benchmark Nikkei stock average above 29,000 for the first time in over eight months.

The Nikkei average of 225 selected issues listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime Section climbed 266.74 points, or 0.92%, to close at 29,123.18, the highest finish since Aug. 17, 2022.

The broader TOPIX index ended 20.58 points, or 1.00%, higher at 2,078.06.

Export-oriented stocks, in particular, were buoyed by the yen’s weakening against the dollar following the Bank of Japan’s decision Friday to keep its easing policy unchanged.

Investors also took heart from all three major U.S. stock indexes gaining further ground Friday.

The market hovered far above the flat line until the closing, “backed by buying of firms that have posted strong earnings numbers,” brokers said.

“Participants in some cases even reacted positively to figures not as rosy as expected, suggesting that underlying sentiment was strong,” an official at a bank-affiliated securities firm added.

Meanwhile, Maki Sawada, strategist at Nomura Securities Co., pointed out that “the market failed to head higher due to portfolio-rebalancing” ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting from Tuesday and three successive national holidays from Wednesday in the Golden Week in Japan plus the weekend.