LEAD: Japan shares jump 1.1 per cent on yen's decline, US gains

Feb 8, 2012, 6:32 GMT

Tokyo - Japanese stocks rose 1.1 per cent Wednesday as export-oriented issues were bolstered by modest overnight gains on Wall Street and the yen's retreat against major currencies.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 98.07 points, or 1.1 per cent, to end at 9,015.59 while the broader Topix index was up 9.57 points, or 1.24 per cent, at 782.34.

Exporters rose strongly as the yen declined, hovering around the lower 77-yen range against the dollar. A weaker yen makes Japanese goods less expensive overseas and improves repatriated earnings.

Nissan Motor Co soared 2.38 per cent, Sony Corp rallied 1.92 per cent and Canon Inc was up 1.47 per cent.

Toyota Motor Corp surged 4.99 per cent after the carmaker Tuesday raised a net profit outlook for the current financial year to 200 billion yen (2.6 billion dollars) from 180 billion yen it had predicted two months ago.

Toyota said net profit for the October-December quarter declined 13.5 per cent to 80.9 billion yen from 93.6 billion yen in the same period of 2010.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.26 per cent Tuesday to its highest level since 2008, amid hope that Greece would agree to additional austerity measures. The US is a major market for export-reliant Japan.

On currency markets at 3 pm (0600 GMT), the dollar traded at 77.07-12 yen, up from Tuesday's 5 pm quote of 76.63-64 yen.

The euro was quoted at 102.27-30 yen, up from 100.75-79 yen late Tuesday, and at 1.3267-3270 dollars, up from 1.3147-3148 dollars.