Japanese shares surge on US gains
By DPA, IANSMonday, January 3, 2011
TOKYO - Japanese stocks surged Tuesday morning, the first trading day of the new year, buoyed by an overnight rally on Wall Street.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 144.93 points, or 1.42 percent, to trade 10,373.85 while the broader Topix index was up 12.41 points, or 1.38 percent, at 911.21.
On Monday, US stocks rose strongly on their first day of trading as some manufacturing data boosted investor optimism for a more broad-based economic recovery in 2011.
Japanese exporters were bolstered by the US gains. The US is a major market for export-reliant Japan.
The Tokyo market was closed Friday and Monday for the New Year holidays.
On currency markets at 9 a.m. (0000 GMT), the dollar traded at 81.66-69 yen, up from Thursday’s 5 p.m. quote of 81.49-52 yen.
The euro traded at 1.3355-3358 dollars, up from 1.3228-3231 dollars Thursday, and at 109.08-11 yen, up from 107.81-84 yen.
