The Tokyo equities markets were up slightly on Monday after a new Tankan survey from the Bank of Japan showed that large companies are planning much larger levels of capital spending than they said they were in the last survey. The new numbers show that businesses are confident that the Japanese economic recovery will continue, and hinted that the Bank will abandon zero interest rates sooner rather than later.
The Nikkei 225 and the Topix index each added 0.4 percent, to 15,571.62 and 1,593.22 respectively.
The retail sector gained 1.2 percent as a whole. General retailer Aeon added 2.4 percent to ¥2,570, while department store chain Isetan gained 2.5 percent to ¥1,999. Another department store chain, Mitsukoshi, was up 6.1 percent to ¥555 after it announced strong operating profits for the quarter ending in May.
Miners saw advances as commodity prices rose once again. Mitsubishi Materials gained 3.1 percent to ¥503, while Sumitomo Metal Mining advanced by 5.4 percent to 1,572.
Japan Airlines dropped 4.9 percent to ¥273 after Friday’s news that it will have to sell new shares to update its fleet and cut debt.
Komatsu, the construction machinery maker, added 2.2 percent to ¥2,325.