Japanese stocks joined the conga line of climbing markets Tuesday after the announcement of a deal between Greece and its creditors eased jitters over possible global fallout from the crisis. The Nikkei Average jammed 1.5% higher, with the Topix up 1.7%, after “risk on” sentiment sparked by the Greek news helped send the Japanese yen significantly lower (dollar buying ¥123.60 vs. ¥122.54 a day earlier). The big tech and industrial blue chips led the advance, with Hitachi Ltd. up 2.8%, Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. up 3%, Sharp Corp. up 2.2%, Nissan Motor Co. up 2.7%, and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. up 2.2%. Likewise, financials followed the overnight U.S. rally to fresh gains, as Nomura Holdings Inc. added 2.7%, and Daiwa Securities Group Inc. rose 2.3%. Lagging the broader market, Sony Corp. lay flat as CNBC reported the conglomerate had priced its share offering at a 3% discount to the stock’s previous close. Nintendo Co. rose just 0.2%, following weakness Monday on news its president had died of cancer. Airlines, meanwhile, failed to get a bump from weaker crude-oil prices, with ANA Holdings Inc. down 0.3% and Japan Airlines Co. up 0.5% after a Nikkei news report said Delta Air Lines Inc. was offering to sponsor Skymark Airlines Inc.’s emergence from bankruptcy in a move that could “fuel competition in Japan’s closed market for domestic flights.”
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News