Tokyo equities markets gained slightly Monday as the Nikkei 225 added 0.32 percent to 16,301.39, the Topix index gained 0.12 percent to 1,587.76 and the Mothers market of small and mid-caps was up 0.59 percent to 731.08.
The appointment of a new Finance Minister seemed to have little effect on the markets.
In the tobacco sector, Japan Tobacco (TYO: 2914) gained 3.4 percent to ¥609,000 after it said over the weekend that it will cut costs by consolidating overseas plants.
Among internet companies, Yahoo Japan (TYO: 4689) added 3.5 percent to ¥40,000 on an upgrade to “overweight” from JP Morgan Chase (TYO: 8634; NYSE: JPM).
Carmakers also made gains, with the sector as a whole advancing by 0.8 percent.
Toyota Motor (TYO: 7203.T; NYSE: TM; LSE: TYT) was up 0.6 percent to ¥6,700, while Honda Motor (TYO: 7267; NYSE: HMC) added 2.4 percent to ¥3,790.
Banks did not do as well. Sumitomo Mitsui (TYO: 8316) dropped 0.9 percent to ¥919,000, while Resona Holdings was down 1.3 percent to ¥237,000 after both banks had gains of over 2 percent earlier in the session.