Japan’s Nikkei shares showed a hot-waxed performance on the second day of trading in 2017 by managing to rack up its biggest gains since December 2015 as investors cheered on the upbeat economic figures in US while the strength of the dollar dragged down the Japanese yen.
Strong Start
Fresh from a two-day-hiatus due to holiday breaks in Japan, Nikkei shares showed no signs of rust and came back on a winning note as the benchmark tacked on 479.79 points, or 2.51 per cent to close at 19 594.16, marking the best gain and the highest close of the index since December 7, 2015.
The Wednesday surge is driven by the upbeat economic figures released by the US and Chinese government as both its manufacturing activity expanded last month while inflation rate in the euro one grew at its fastest pace in five years.
It was further aided by the continuous rally of the US dollar, closing at 103.830, which weekend pushed the Japanese yen to its three-week low at 118.60 and helped Japan’s exporter-heavy stock companies to tally its largest single-day gain in nearly two months.
Meanwhile, the broader benchmark, Topix also logged to its best finish in over a year as it advanced 2.4 per cent at 1554.48, prompted by the sharp gains in shippers, steelmakers and exporters despite the huge loss contributed by Toshiba, the most traded stock, amid the media release regarding the company’s misreporting of profits.