By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks scored their latest
rally Monday, rising despite mostly negative performances elsewhere
in Asia, as investors bet on Tokyo's deflation-fighting plans and
further weakness in the yen.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.1%, South Korea's Kospi
traded flat, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index declined
0.3%.
The moves came after Wall Street ended with slight gains Friday,
helped by upbeat U.S. data on consumer confidence and
manufacturing. Read: Stocks end session, week on a high note
The U.S. dollar (USDJPY) gained as well Friday, with the
greenback buying Yen93.56 Monday, just off from Yen93.58 yen in
late North American trade Friday but well above Thursday's Yen92.63
level.
The softer yen came amid growing confidence that Japan's new
government will be able to make ground in curbing deflation. The
Nikkei business daily reported Monday, for instance, that an
inflation forecast used by bond investors has risen to 1.16%, up
from 1% in mid-February.
The financial and real-estate sectors would likely be among the
biggest beneficiaries if Japan returns to solid inflation, and
property names were particularly strong performers on Monday. Among
them, Mitsui Fudosan Co. (8801.TO) climbed 4.2%, Sumitomo Realty
& Development Co. (8830.TO) advanced 5.3%, and Mitsubishi
Estate Co. (MITEF) surged 8.2%.
Those gains came as a separate Nikkei report said real-estate
investment trusts are expected to raise almost three times the
amount of capital in the first three months of 2013 compared to in
the preceding quarter.
Meanwhile, the lower yen helped boost Japanese blue-chip
exporters. Sony Corp. (SNE) climbed 3.7%, Bridgestone Corp. (BRDCF)
rose 2.6% and Fujitsu Ltd. (FJTSY) improved by 1.4%.
On the downside in Tokyo, losses late last week for crude-oil
futures weighed on the energy sector as Inpex Corp. (IPXHY) lost
0.8%, and JX Holdings Inc. (JXHGF) fell 0.2%.
Friday's strength in the U.S. dollar also worked to pressure
prices for metals, as gold ended at its worst level since July last
year, while copper futures fell to a three-month low. Read: Gold
down a third day, at lowest since mid-July
That move fed into a weak performance for Sydney-listed miners
on Monday, with the sector down 2.1%.
Rio Tinto Ltd. (RIO) declined 2.2%, BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) --
trading ex-dividend -- slipped 1.4% on an adjusted basis, and
Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (FSUMY) declined 2.8%.
South Korean stocks received some support from an advance for
market major Samsung Electronics Inc. (SSNLF), which rose 1.2%
after a U.S. court on Friday issued a ruling that slashed the
amount of damages the firm has to pay arch-rival Apple Inc. (AAPL)
by around 43% to just under $600 million.
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