Nikkei Hits 2-Month High above 9,000 on 1st Session of 2009

Tokyo, Jan. 5 (Jiji Press)--Stocks charged ahead on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange Monday, the first session for 2009, driving the key Nikkei average
to a two-month closing high above 9,000, thanks to the solid performance of
overseas equities during Japan's New Year holidays.

The 225-issue Nikkei average finished the half-day session at
9,043.12, up 183.56 points, or 2.1 pct, from Tuesday, the final trading day
for 2008. On Tuesday, it rose 112.39 points.
The key market gauge marked the first close above 9,000 since Nov.
10 and extended its gains to the fifth consecutive trading day, the longest
winning streak since April 2008.
The TOPIX index of all first-section issues, a 4.47-point gainer in
the previous session, was up 16.67 points, or 1.9 pct, at 875.91.
The Tokyo market's healthy gains followed an upbeat start to 2009
on world stock markets. On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average closed
above 9,000 for the first time since Nov. 5 on persistent hopes that
President-elect Barack Obama's economy-boosting plan will help make the new
year better than the previous year.
The dollar's strength against the yen also improved the market's
mood, brokers said.
"Investors' risk-averse sentiment has been subsiding thanks to what
we call Obama hope," said Nagayuki Yamagishi, equity strategist at
Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co.
"But I think the hope has grown excessive," he said, pointing out
that it takes at least half a year before various policy measures have an
impact on the economy. "I expect the current Obama hope to evaporate
immediately after his inauguration (on Jan. 20)."
Yamagishi also warned that the intensifying tensions in the Middle
East cast a dark shadow on global stock markets, as Israeli troops launched
a ground offensive against the militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Brokers said that because the Tokyo market's recent gains have not
been accompanied by solid turnover, the market may be vulnerable to
profit-taking pressure.
Masayuki Otani, chief market analyst at Securities Japan Inc.,
expects that the geopolitical concern, as well as caution about bleak
corporate earnings outlooks, will limit the Nikkei average's topside to
around 9,500 in the near term.
"It seems difficult to chase stock prices higher from here," Otani
said.
Winning issues outnumbered losers 868 to 715 on the TSE's first
section, while 102 issues were flat.
Volume came to 1,146 million shares, against 853 million shares in
the half-day session on Tuesday.
Investors bought Mizuho Financial, NTT and other shares that had
been suspended from trading late last year ahead of Japan's introduction of
an electronic share certificate system on Monday.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial rose despite a media report that the
banking group, as well as rival Mizuho, are likely to fall into the red in
October-December.
Energy-related AOC, Inpex and Japan Petroleum Exploration drew
brisk buying as Middle East tensions lifted up crude oil prices.
Meanwhile, investors shunned defensive shares, such as Tokyo
Electric Power, Tokyo Gas and Takeda Pharmaceutical.
In index futures trading, the key March contract on the Nikkei
average closed up 240 points at 9,070 on the Osaka Securities Exchange.