Tokyo stocks rise after tankan, Canon gains

Tokyo, Oct 2: The Nikkei average rose 0.73 percent on Monday after the Bank of Japan's tankan survey showed that Japanese companies were more satisfied with business conditions in September than three months earlier.

Shares of large manufacturers such as Canon Inc. were among the gainers, helped by a stronger-than-expected reading for big manufacturers' sentiment.

''There has been no change in the fact that large manufacturers are at the centre of Japan's economic recovery,'' said Hideyuki Suzuki, investment information manager at SBI Securities, referring to the tankan.

''And that is one of the reasons why investors are buying blue chips at the moment.'' The Nikkei was up 118.33 points at 16,245.91 as of 0117 GMT.

The TOPIX index was up 0.60 percent at 1,620.36.

Shares of office equipment maker Canon gained 1.8 percent to 6,270 yen.

Auto maker Honda Motor Corp. rose 2.5 percent to 4,060 yen.

Both firms also benefited from a weaker yen The currency fell as low as 118.22 on Monday, its lowest in two weeks. A weaker yen is a boon for exporters because it boosts profits when earnings from abroad are brought home.

Shares of KDDI Corp., Japan second-largest wireless operator, gained 2.3 percent to 753,000 yen after Nihon Keizai newspaper reported on Saturday that KDDI had agreed to buy Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s fibre optic unit for more than 100 billion yen (0 million) in stock.

Shares of Tokyo Electric Power were flat at 3,400 yen.

REUTERS