Equities markets in Tokyo were up substantially on Thursday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average in New York closed at its highest level in history. The Nikkei 225 added 2.3 percent to 16,449.33, while the Topix index was 2 percent higher to 1,633.20. Export-focused stocks and domestic sectors both saw advances on the session.
The securities sector was the biggest winner, with an advance of 4.3 percent as a whole. Among the traditional brokerage houses, Nomura added 4.4 percent to ¥2,140, while Daiwa was 4.8 percent higher and Nikko Cordial gained 5.6 percent to ¥1,389. Online brokers were also higher, but did less well on the session. Monex Beans was up 1.3 percent to ¥95,300 and Kabu.com gained 3.5 percent to ¥208,000.
Among pharmaceuticals companies, Astellas added 6.8 percent to ¥5,010 after it announced larger than anticipated job cuts and a share buyback.
In export sectors, construction machinery manufacturer Komatsu gained 2.7 percent to ¥2,095, while carmaker Toyota was 2.9 percent higher to ¥6,760. Advantest added 4.2 percent to ¥6,020.
The major exception to the days gains was the electronics sector. Sony dropped another 0.2 percent to ¥4,440. Toshiba fell 5.2 percent to ¥723 on a downgrade from Goldman Sachs. The broker reduced Toshiba’s rating from “buy” to “neutral” after the electronics company said it will purchase 77 percent of US power plant company Westinghouse.