Nikkei hits 3-mth high as Toyota, exporters gain

Tokyo, June 4: The Nikkei average hit its highest in three months on Monday with Toyota Motor Corp. up after its strong U.S. sales data, while other exporters rose on eased concern about the U.S. economy, one of the biggest markets for Japanese goods, after a series of solid economic data there.

Investors are also buying machinery stocks, encouraged by stronger-than-expected business capital spending data before the start of trade, said Tsuyoshi Segawa, equity strategist at Shinko Securities.

''Investors feel comfortable buying exporters after seeing U.S. data indicating active manufacturing activities,'' he said.

''It's also natural that machinery stocks rise after such solid domestic capex data.'' U.S. stocks rose on Friday, driving the Dow and the S&P 500 to record finishes, as strong jobs and manufacturing data reassured investors about the economy's health.

Government data showed before the start of trade that Japanese companies increased spending on plant and equipment by 13.6 per cent in January-March compared with the same quarter last year, above a consensus market forecast for a 9.6 per cent increase.

The Nikkei was up 0.52 per cent, or 92.82 points, at 18,051.70 as of 0049 GMT, the highest since Feb. 27.

The broader TOPIX index gained 0.74 per cent to 1,780.91.

Shares of Toyota climbed 1.7 per cent to 7,590 yen after data showed that Japan's top automaker shot past all its rivals with a 10 per cent gain in U.S. car sales in May.

Other exporters also gained with Kyocera Corp. up 0.3 per cent at 11,960 yen, while Yokogawa Electric Corp. added 3 per cent to 1,611 yen.

In machinery stocks, Komatsu Ltd. jumped 3.1 per cent to 3,340 yen and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. added 2.6 per cent to 438 yen.

Elsewhere, Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd.gained 0.9 per cent to 3,300 yen after it said on Friday it would buy back up to 35 billion yen (6.8 million) worth of its own shares from June 4 to July 30.

Reuters>