Asia Markets: Japan surges in holiday-thinned Asia trade

By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch

SYDNEY (MarketWatch) ? Japanese shares soared in holiday-thinned trading Tuesday, after the country?s economics minister said share prices are too cheap and the yen hit a fresh multiyear low.

Fresh from a three-day weekend, investors pushed Japan?s Nikkei Stock Average /quotes/zigman/5986735 JP:100000018 +1.94% ?1.9% higher by the close, with the index retaining its grip on levels last seen in late 2008.

?Japanese yen weakness and Nikkei [Average] outperformance were dominant themes after the return of Japanese markets from their respective market holidays ... and after Economics Minister Amari?s weekend comments that the government will step up its efforts to revive the economy,? said RBC Capital Markets strategist Sue Trinh.

Akira Amari said that he wanted to see policy steps from the Japanese government to help stock prices rise.

?It will be important to show our mettle to see the Nikkei [Average] reaches 13,000 points by the end of the fiscal year? on March 31, Amari was quoted as saying by Kyodo News.

Such a rise would represent a 14% climb from Tuesday?s 11,369 closing level. Read: Japan?s economy minister bullish on Japanese stocks

Amari made similar comments Tuesday, saying stock prices were too low compared to fundamentals and that the government would seek to redress this situation, according to reports.

What an Apple watch would do

Apple is working on a wearable computer for the wrist that performs some of the functions of smartphones.

As stocks soared, the dollar /quotes/zigman/4868099/sampled USDJPY -0.3970% ?rose against the yen on Tuesday, buying ?93.93 ? up from ?93.42 in late North American trading Monday ? and marking its highest level since May 2010.

Companies exposed to currency moves and trading higher on Tuesday included Toshiba Corp. /quotes/zigman/198925 JP:6502 +2.93% ? /quotes/zigman/529244/quotes/nls/tosyy TOSYY +2.34% , up 2.9%; and Bridgestone Corp. /quotes/zigman/192084 JP:5108 +3.22% ? /quotes/zigman/192507/quotes/nls/brdcy BRDCY +1.21% , which rose 3.2%.

Bucking the trend, however, Nissan Motor Co. /quotes/zigman/196473 JP:7201 -3.75% ? /quotes/zigman/202910/quotes/nls/nsany NSANY +0.85% ?fell 3.8% after reporting that its October-December profit fell by more than a third. Read: Nissan Q3 net off; confident about full year

Dentsu Inc. /quotes/zigman/292704 JP:4324 +10.47% ? /quotes/zigman/510473/quotes/nls/dntuy DNTUY +3.06% ?jumped 10.5%, however, after the advertising firm reported a 24% jump in nine-month profit.

Financial-sector margins stand to benefit if the government succeeds in introducing policies that bring inflation to the Japanese economy, and the sector rallied on Tuesday.

Mizuho Financial Group Inc. /quotes/zigman/317735 JP:8411 +4.83% ? /quotes/zigman/1500746/quotes/nls/mfg MFG +0.44% ?climbed 4.8%, Nomura Holdings Inc. /quotes/zigman/196701 JP:8604 +5.48% ? /quotes/zigman/134469/quotes/nls/nrscf NRSCF +1.11% ? rose 5.5%, and Daiwa Securities Group Inc. /quotes/zigman/192664 JP:8601 +4.02% ? /quotes/zigman/192671/quotes/nls/dsecf DSECF +20.04% ?advanced 4%.

Rest of Asia quiet

Many other Asian markets remained closed for the Lunar New Year, including those in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Taipei.

South Korea ? where investors were also returning from holiday ? came under pressure after the South Korean Defense Ministry reportedly said a tremor detected in North Korea appeared to be a nuclear test. Read: North Korea conducts nuclear-weapon test: reports

The RBC?s Trinh said ?a risk-off bias was evident? in the markets after reports of the North Korean seismic activity.

The benchmark Kospi /quotes/zigman/1652118 KR:SEU -0.26% ?edged down 0.3%, with utilities among the worst performers, as Korea Gas Corp. /quotes/zigman/1652898 KR:036460 -2.64% ?fell 2.2%, and Korea Electric Power Corp. /quotes/zigman/1638314 KR:015760 -2.55% ?declined 2.4%.

Australia?s S&P/ASX 200 index /quotes/zigman/1653884 AU:XJO -0.01% ?ended flat, with lending giant Commonwealth Bank of Australia /quotes/zigman/181773 AU:CBA +0.61% ? /quotes/zigman/181772/quotes/nls/cbauf CBAUF +0.15% ?gaining 0.6% ahead of its earnings due out Wednesday.

Bradken Ltd. /quotes/zigman/348802 AU:BKN +10.98% ?climbed 11% after the engineering firm reported an 8.5% increase in first-half net profit on Tuesday.

U.S. markets ended with marginal losses on Monday, pulling back after a recent rally, with energy stocks underperforming. Read: Stocks end lower on year?s lightest volume

/quotes/zigman/5986735

JP : Nikkei Idx

Volume: 0.00

Feb. 12, 2013 3:00p

/quotes/zigman/4868099/sampled

US : ICAP Currencies

Volume: 0.0000

Feb. 12, 2013 1:22a

/quotes/zigman/198925

JP : Japan: Tokyo

Volume: 64.24M

Feb. 12, 2013 3:00p

Market Cap

?1733.18 billion

Rev. per Employee

?27.60M

/quotes/zigman/529244/quotes/nls/tosyy

US : U.S.: OTCBB

Volume: 9,407

Feb. 11, 2013 3:58p

/quotes/zigman/192084

JP : Japan: Tokyo

? 2,501.00

+78.00 +3.22%

Volume: 4.56M

Feb. 12, 2013 3:00p

Market Cap

?1970.15 billion

Rev. per Employee

?21.07M

/quotes/zigman/192507/quotes/nls/brdcy

US : U.S.: OTCBB

Volume: 400.00

Feb. 11, 2013 2:23p

/quotes/zigman/196473

JP : Japan: Tokyo

Volume: 51.54M

Feb. 12, 2013 3:00p

Market Cap

?4461.95 billion

Rev. per Employee

?58.61M

/quotes/zigman/202910/quotes/nls/nsany

US : U.S.: OTCBB

Volume: 30,735

Feb. 11, 2013 3:57p

Rev. per Employee

$735,440

/quotes/zigman/292704

JP : Japan: Tokyo

? 2,838.00

+269.00 +10.47%

Volume: 3.01M

Feb. 12, 2013 3:00p

Market Cap

?714.66 billion

Rev. per Employee

?89.98M

/quotes/zigman/510473/quotes/nls/dntuy

US : U.S.: OTCBB

Volume: 600.00

Aug. 28, 2012 12:57p

/quotes/zigman/317735

JP : Japan: Tokyo

Volume: 487.64M

Feb. 12, 2013 3:00p

Market Cap

?5185.94 billion

Rev. per Employee

?47.82M

/quotes/zigman/1500746/quotes/nls/mfg

US : U.S.: NYSE

Volume: 569,223

Feb. 11, 2013 4:03p

Rev. per Employee

$600,814

/quotes/zigman/196701

JP : Japan: Tokyo

Volume: 175.84M

Feb. 12, 2013 3:00p

Market Cap

?2022.14 billion

Rev. per Employee

?55.57M

/quotes/zigman/134469/quotes/nls/nrscf

US : U.S.: OTCBB

Volume: 11,195

Jan. 29, 2013 9:30a

/quotes/zigman/192664

JP : Japan: Tokyo

Volume: 32.30M

Feb. 12, 2013 3:00p

Market Cap

?956.91 billion

Rev. per Employee

?32.35M

/quotes/zigman/192671/quotes/nls/dsecf

US : U.S.: OTCBB

Volume: 180.00

Jan. 14, 2013 12:18p

/quotes/zigman/1652118

KR : S. Korea: KRX

Volume: 303.93M

Feb. 12, 2013 3:02p

/quotes/zigman/1652898

KR : S. Korea: KRX

? 62,600.00

-1,700 -2.64%

Volume: 420,329

Feb. 12, 2013 3:00p

Market Cap

?4969.39 billion

Rev. per Employee

?12.50B

/quotes/zigman/1638314

KR : S. Korea: KRX

? 30,550.00

-800.00 -2.55%

Volume: 2.16M

Feb. 12, 2013 3:00p

Market Cap

?20125.60 billion

Rev. per Employee

?2.53B

/quotes/zigman/1653884

AU : Australia: Sydney

Volume: 0.00

Feb. 12, 2013 4:11p

/quotes/zigman/181773

AU : Australia: Sydney

Volume: 3.03M

Feb. 12, 2013 4:59p

Market Cap

$104.32 billion

/quotes/zigman/181772/quotes/nls/cbauf

US : U.S.: OTCBB

Volume: 175.00

Feb. 8, 2013 11:26a

Market Cap

$106.91 billion

/quotes/zigman/348802

AU : Australia: Sydney

Volume: 5.31M

Feb. 12, 2013 4:59p

Sarah Turner is MarketWatch's bureau chief in Sydney. Follow her on Twitter @SarahTurnerMKTW.

Source: http://feeds.marketwatch.com/~r/marketwatch/software/~3/L3k6nvLCRbg/story.asp

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