Japanese stocks rose in choppy trade on Monday as the yen backed away from Friday’s 2-1/2 year high against the euro and one-week high against the dollar, burnishing market sentiment and giving relief to exporters that have come to rely on a weaker yen for profits.
The dollar flirted with the 113-yen mark throughout the day, giving Japan’s exporters some relief from the one-week high of 112.28 hit on Friday.
The Nikkei share average rose 0.9 per cent to 16,111.05.
“Today’s gains were definitely yen driven but it should be noted that we’re not seeing the yen weaken as much as we might have expected given the data we saw out of the US at the end of last week,’’ said Gavin Parry, managing director at Parry International Trading.
The broader Topix edged up 0.6 per cent to end the day at 1,300.00 with all but six of its 33 subindexes in positive territory.
The JPX-Nikkei Index 400 gained 0.7 per cent to 11,772.51.