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Japanese stocks climb sharply on expected monetary easing (Roundup)
Mar 5, 2010, 6:56 GMT
Tokyo - Stocks in Tokyo rose strongly Friday on a news report that the Bank of Japan was likely to consider more monetary easing through April to counter deflation.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 223.24 points, or 2.2 per cent, to close at 10,368.96 while the broader Topix index was up 13.17 points, or 1.47 per cent, to 910.81.
For the week, the Nikkei was up 2.4 per cent and the Topix was up 1.87 per cent.
The central bank was expected to discuss easing its monetary policy at a two-day meeting starting March 16, the Nikkei business daily reported Friday.
Finance Minister Naoto Kan said Monday that Japan was still mired in deflation and he wanted the country to beat the falling prices by the end of 2010. The government had pressured the Bank of Japan to do more to combat the seemingly intractable problem.
Japanese stocks were also bolstered by overnight gains on Wall Street. US stocks rose Thursday ahead of much-anticipated unemployment data due out Friday.
On currency markets at 3 pm (0600 GMT) in Tokyo, the dollar traded at 89.27-30 yen, up from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 88.39-41 yen.
The euro traded at 1.3593-3596 dollars, down from 1.3639-3641 dollars Thursday, and at 121.35-38 yen, up from 120.56-60 yen.
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