Strong machinery orders data drive Nikkei to 2-month high

Tokyo stocks reversed early declines to end sharply higher Wednesday as stronger-than-expected Japanese machinery orders data triggered active buying, driving the benchmark Nikkei to its highest finish in two months.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average rose 191.93 points, or 1.24 percent, to 15,656.59, for its best close since June 5.

The Tokyo Stock Price Index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 15.70 points, or 1.00 percent, to end at 1,578.43.

Advancing issues led declining ones 1,185 to 395, with 113 shares ending unchanged.

Internet investor Softbank was the most heavily traded issue in value terms. It soared 105 yen to 2,285 yen, after saying Tuesday it posted 1.42 billion yen in group net profit in the April-June quarter, a turnaround from a year-earlier loss of 11.15 billion yen.

Finance company Nissin was the day's volume leader, up 8 yen to 76 yen.

Trading volume on the TSE's main section came to 1,750.39 million shares, up from Tuesday's 1,395.40 million.

The TSE's Second Section index gained 22.51 points, or 0.55 percent, to 4,142.08 on a volume of 56.62 million shares. In Osaka, the near-term September Nikkei 225 index futures contract climbed 240 points to 15,660.

Source: Xinhua