The FINANCIAL -- Japan's key Nikkei stock index rose past the 10,000 line July 27 morning for the first time in almost a month, hitting a six-week intraday high, on raised hopes about the U.S. economic outlook following upbeat quarterly earnings and a solid Wall Street rally last week.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 173.72 points, or 1.75 percent, from Friday to 10,118.27 after fetching an intraday high of 10,131.64. The benchmark index last topped the key 10,000 line on July 1.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was up 12.34 points, or 1.34 percent, to 932.82.
"Stocks rose in almost all of the TSE's 33 industrial sectors, led by securities, precision machinery and consumer finance issues. The mining sector was the only decliner," Nikkei News informs.
''In U.S. stocks last Friday, while the Nasdaq Composite Index snapped a 12-day rally to dip slightly, the Dow Jones index and the S&P 500 both renewed their (eight-month) closing highs,'' said Hiroichi Nishi, equity manager at Nikko Cordial Securities Inc.
The three indexes scored a second weekly advance in a row after a string of better-than-expected earnings. The boosted confidence about a U.S. economic recovery lifts sentiment in the export-oriented Japanese market and raises hopes for more positive results in the domestic interim earnings season set to peak this week, brokers said.
Many Japanese blue-chip firms are set to report their April-June quarterly earnings this week, with investors hoping to see upward revisions to their full-year earnings forecasts.
''Investors are sensing some overheating in (Tokyo) stock prices, but this was outweighed by mounting U.S. recovery optimism and a consensus that Japanese equities are still lagging behind U.S. stocks after recent rallies,'' Nishi said.
The Nikkei, which has risen 9.88 percent in an eight-day winning streak through Friday, saw some resistance ahead of the year-to-date intraday high of 10,170.82 logged June 12, the brokers said.
On the First Section, advancing issues outnumbered declining ones 1,248 to 314, with 128 others ending the morning unchanged.
Hitachi jumped 16 yen, or over 5 percent, to 310 yen after reports it plans to turn five listed group firms into wholly owned units. Hitachi Maxell, one of the firms, was flooded with buy orders and rose to a bid-only 1,414 yen from Friday's 1,214 yen.
Nomura Holdings gained 26 yen, or over 3 percent, to 821 yen, on news that the nation's top three brokerages likely returned to profit in the April-June quarter.
Mizuho Financial Group, the morning leader in both value and volume terms, rose 3 yen, or over 1 percent, to 211 yen.
Bucking the trend, electrical machinery maker Meidensha shed 14 yen, or more than 2 percent, to 567 yen after recent gains.
Trading volume on the main section came to 1,061.77 million shares, down from Friday morning's 1,297.00 million.
The TSE's Second Section index was up 15.52 points, or 0.70 percent, to 2,228.65 on a volume of 15.52 million shares. On the Osaka Securities Exchange, the near-term September Nikkei 225 index futures contract was up 190 points to 10,130.
