Nikkei Ends Higher On Strong Wall St, Yen’s Fall

Tokyo stocks rebounded Monday, the first day of fiscal 2012, with the Nikkei Stock Average climbing 26.31 points, or 0.26%, to end the day at 10,109.87.

Tokyo investors appeared optimistic about the U.S. economy after Wall Street closed higher on Friday in response to the release of stronger-than-expected personal spending data in the U.S.

The yen’s fall also improved investor sentiment, prompting buying of exporters on the back of expectations of stronger corporate earnings. But the Nikkei average trimmed its gains in the afternoon due to profit-taking caused by a pause in the Japanese currency’s fall.

According to the Bank of Japan’s tankan quarterly business sentiment survey for March, which was released before the bell, business sentiment among large manufacturers worsened, with the diffusion index falling below the median figure projected by market analysts. However, it had little impact on investor sentiment.

Trading value on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange totaled about 1.33 trillion yen on a preliminary basis, reported by Nikkei News.