Japan market summary for Wednesday (Sept. 19)
Nikkei 225 Stock Average: +579.74 (+3.7%) to 16,381.54; biggest one-day gain since March 4, 2003
Nikkei 225 futures Osaka: +590 (+3.7%) to 16,370, Singapore (SGX) +540 (+3.4%) to 16,365, Chicago (CME) *9/18 +295 (+1.8%) to 16,300
TOPIX: +56.63 (+3.75%) to 1,567.58; Advancers 1,626 x decliners 70 (unch. 29), New highs 14 x new lows 51
Nikkei Jasdaq: +13.10 (+0.7%) to 1,831.34
Yen:weakened about 0.6% against US$ to around 115.80 level, weakened about 1.2% against euro to around 161.60 level
Notes:Stocks obviously boosted by the big rally in the U.S. induced by FOMC cutting 0.5% from federal-funds and discount rates. Better-than-expected earnings from Lehman Bros. (LEH) helped the likes of financial stocks. A weaker yen is always cited for bullishness among exporters. Bank of Japan held the benchmark rate at 0.5%, as expected.