In Tokyo on Monday, equities markets were higher after the latest Tankan Survey by the Bank of Japan. The Nikkei 225 was 0.8 percent higher to 16,254.29, while the Topix index gained 0.9 percent to 1,625.12.
Some export-oriented stocks were also helped by a weaker yen. Matsuhsita Electric Industrial was 1.2 percent higher to ¥2,530. On the other hand, Sony was hurt by yet another recall of its laptop batteries, dropping 1.1 percent as a consequence, to ¥4,730. Carmakers were higher, with Toyota Motor up 1.1 percent to ¥6,490 and Honda Motor adding 2.5 percent to ¥4,070.
Metals manufacturers were up substantially on the session. Nippon Steel was 1.7 percent higher to ¥494, while JFE gained 1.9 percent to ¥4,720. Among non-ferrous metals makers, Dowa added 2.2 percent to ¥1,041.
In the telecommunications sector, KDDI was 1.8 percent higher to ¥749,000 on reports that it will purchase Tokyo Electric Power’s fibre optics unit. Tepco was up 0.9 percent to ¥3,430.
The real estate sector was 1.4 percent higher. Mitsui Fudosan added 0.7 percent to ¥2,705, while Mitsubishi Estate gained 2.7 percent to ¥2,650.
Elsehwere, the paper and pulp sector was mixed as Oji Paper managed a gain of 0.2 percent to ¥648, but Hokuetsu Paper was 0.4 percent lower to ¥714.