Tokyo's benchmark stock index closes up 6.72% in global rally

Tokyo's benchmark stock index closed 6.72 percent higher on Thursday, led by a surge in financials and export giants, on hopes Donald Trump's shock US presidential election win will provide a boost to the world's number one economy. The key Nikkei 225 index, which plummeted 5.4 percent on Wednesday, jumped 1,092.88 points to 17,344.42. The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was up 5.78 percent, or 75.19 points, at 1,376.35. "It's like yesterday never happened,” said Tsutomu Yamada, an analyst at Kabu.com Securities Co in Tokyo, told Bloomberg News. "What was a Trump shock-reaction is now a Trump rally," he said. Tokyo's advance tracked a rally on Wall Street where pharmaceutical and banking shares soared on hopes that Trump's defeat of Hillary Clinton would usher in favourable policies. Among the big gainers were exporters as the yen tumbled against the dollar. The greenback bought 105.36 yen in Tokyo, down from 105.72 yen in New York but still sharply up from the 101.20 yen mark touched in Asia earlier Wednesday. The Tokyo market saw "too much selling yesterday although I believe that was a normal reaction" to the surprise result, said Toshihiko Matsuno, senior strategist at SMBC Friend Securities. He added that "no one had expected that much of a rally" on Wall Street. "Those who sold shares yesterday are buying back as they watch Trump's next steps," he said, adding hopes were currently rising for fiscal-spending plans under the new administration. "We will see more swings for some time." Mitsushige Akino, an executive officer at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co, told Bloomberg: "If the US economy revives through expanded fiscal spending and tax cuts, US interest rates would rise, which in turn is a plus for Japanese stocks through a stronger dollar and a weaker yen." Among the big gainers, banking giant Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group soared 11.18 percent to 557.5 yen and brokerage Nomura shot up 11.07 percent to 536.6 yen. Mobile carrier SoftBank rose 9.14 percent to 6,574 yen, while Sony was up 6.08 percent at 3,207 yen. Honda jumped 8.95 percent to 2,980.5 yen and Toyota rose 5.95 percent to 5,838 yen.