Business News

Japan stocks rise on bargain hunting, China gains

Jun 7, 2011, 6:30 GMT

Tokyo - Japanese shares climbed Tuesday as investors picked up bargain stocks after three consecutive trading days of losses and as gains in China improved sentiment.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 62.6 points, or 0.67 per cent, to close at 9,442.95. The broader-based Topix index was up 5.77 points, or 0.71 per cent, at 813.76.

Tokyo stocks advanced further in the afternoon as the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) index rose 0.38 per cent as of 2:06 pm (0606 GMT).

Shares in Sony Corp fell 1.5 per cent after a group of hackers claimed Monday they hit a Sony unit computer network, the latest in a series of attacks on the electronics giant.

In late April, a network breach that had knocked out Sony's online video-game system also exposed users' personal data, possibly including their credit-card information, the company said. It was criticized for waiting a week after the breach to make it public.

On currency markets at 3 pm (0600 GMT), the dollar traded at 80.30-31 yen, up slightly from Monday's 5 pm quote of 80.22-23 yen.

The euro traded at 1.4611-4614 dollars, down from 1.4619-4620 dollars Monday, and at 117.34-37 yen, up slightly from 117.28-32 yen.