Nikkei: 9,608.32 (+401.57) Hang Seng: 22,857.90 (+172.68) Shanghai Comp: 2,919.17 (+10.03)JAPAN'S NIKKEI 225 Stock Average had its biggest two-day advance since April 2009 as the country made progress in stabilising reactors at a crippled nuclear plant.
Toyota surged 4 per cent to 3,345 yen in Tokyo. Honda rose 2.1 per cent to 3,145 yen and Fanuc, an industrial-robot manufacturer, climbed 5.7 per cent to 12,150 yen. Fujitsu, Japan’s biggest computer-services provider, leapt 11 per cent to 501 yen. Sony climbed 3.2 per cent to 2,600 yen.
“The fear premium is declining sharply,” said James Holt, Sydney-based director of BlackRock Investment.
Tokyo Electric Power, the operator of the troubled Fukushima nuclear plant, soared 16 per cent to finish the session at 1,098 yen.
Tokyo Electric said yesterday it had connected a power cable from reactor three to reactor four. A spokesman said progress was being made restoring power to unit one.
Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan said he could see “light at the end of the tunnel”, even as smoke at two reactors hampered efforts to restore cooling systems at Fukushima. – (Bloomberg)
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