Tokyo stocks rallied 1.53 percent Wednesday, to close above the 10,000 mark for the first time since July, thanks to the weakening yen and following a surge on the Dow Jones index in New York.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 151.44 points to end at 10,050.52, the highest finish since July 26, when it ended at 10,097.72.
The Topix index of all first-section shares added 1.39 percent, or 11.78 points, to 857.11.
Sentiment was buoyed after the US central bank, following its monthly policy meeting Tuesday, upgraded its view of the world’s number one economy saying the jobs market and consumer and business spending had improved since January.
The Federal Reserve also kept ultra-low interest rates unchanged.
“The index now looks reasonably valued looking at the price-earnings ratio, though the index had been very cheap for a while,” Daiwa Asset Management senior strategist Yoshinori Nagano said, adding that it could top 10,500 by the end of April.
On Wall Street the Dow zoomed past the 13,000 mark, driven by soaring bank shares after JPMorgan Chase announced a huge share buyback and dividend hike as it passed a crucial stress test by the Federal Reserve.
The Dow closed up 1.68 percent at 13,177.68, its best closing level since December 2007.
Japanese also continued to benefit from the weakening yen, said Daiwa Capital Markets, predicting that the greenback would climb to 85 against the Japanese unit.
The US unit rose to 83.24 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade, its strongest level since April. It was trading at 82.90 yen in New York late Tuesday.
The yen also fell against the euro, with the common European currency buying 108.78 yen against 108.38 yen in New York.
Adding to the optimism was a surprise move by Fitch to raise Greece’s credit rating out of default.
Among major shares, Honda Motor added 2.74 percent to 3,185 yen following a report that the company was planning a new auto factory in Indonesia, after it announced Tuesday it would build a new motorcycle plant in the country.
Sony surged 5.17 percent to 1,790 yen, while heavyweight Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rose 2.60 percent to 433 yen.
