Japan Nikkei surges 2.06%

Japan stock market finished session sharpy higher on Thursday, 08 February 2024, supported by active bargain buying, on tracking upbeat cues from Wall Street overnight and better than expected corporate earnings results. Meanwhile, investor sentiment received further boost from the yen's weakness against the U.S. dollar after Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida expressed caution about a future monetary policy shift.

At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average index surged 743.36 points, or 2.06%, to 36,863.28. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange spurted 12.68 points, 0.5%, to 2,562.63

Totoal 17 of 33 sectors of the broader Topix index advanced, with Other Financial Business, Transportation Equipment, Electric Appliances, Pharmaceutical, and Insurance issues being notable gainers, while Textiles & Apparels, Electric Power & Gas, Construction, and Banks issues were notable losers.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Japan Bank Lending Rises 3.1% On Year In January--Overall bank lending in Japan was up 3.1% on year in January, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday - coming in at 617.625 trillion yen. Minus trusts, lending rose an annual 3.5% to 540.166 trillion yen, while lending from trusts added 0.5% to 77.459 trillion yen. Lending from foreign banks jumped 19.1% to 4.333 trillion yen.

Japan Reports Y744.3 Billion Current Account Surplus--Japan posted a seasonally adjusted current account surplus of 744.3 billion yen in December, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday. Exports were up 9.4% on year at 9.538 trillion yen, while imports were down an annual 5.4% at 9.422 trillion yen for a trade surplus of 115.5 billion yen. The capital account saw a deficit of 24.2 billion yen, while the financial account had a surplus of 743.7 billion yen. For all of 2023, the current account surplus was 20.629 trillion yen - up from 10.714 trillion yen in 2022.

CURRENCY NEWS: Japanese yen depreciated to lower 148 range against greenback on Thursday, on the back of dovish comment from Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida who said it is hard to imagine a path of continuous rate hikes even if the central bank decides to end its negative interest rate policy. The yen depreciated to 148.36 against greenback, compared with 147.82 on Wednesday.

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