June 9 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks advanced, pushing the Nikkei 225 Stock Average to a six-month high and the Topix index to its longest winning streak since 1990. Honda Motor Co., TDK Corp. and other exporters gained after a U.S. jobs report indicated that growth in the world's largest economy may accelerate in coming months. ``Strength in the U.S. economy and market is a prerequisite for the Japanese market to achieve a solid recovery, and that's becoming more apparent,'' said Atsushi Ishii, who helps manage the equivalent of $59 billion at Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. He declined to comment on his holdings.
The Nikkei added 0.4 percent to 8822.73, its highest since Dec. 9, at the 3 p.m. close in Tokyo. The Topix index rose for a ninth day, gaining 0.6 percent to 874.36. The index rose for 11 days in the period to May 16, 1990. Elsewhere, Taiwan's TWSE Index jumped 1.8 percent to close at a four-month high. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. led gains after the Commercial Times said sales at the island's biggest electronics manufacturer may reach NT$400 billion ($11.5 billion) this year. South Korea's Kospi index climbed 1.2 percent to its highest in five months. Posco, the world's fourth-largest steelmaker, paced gains after the spot price of hot-rolled steel exported to China rose for the first time in 15 weeks. Stock benchmarks in the Philippines, Thailand and China dropped, while they rose in the rest of the region. Australian markets are closed today for a public holiday.
Japan
Nikkei futures for June delivery climbed 0.1 percent to 8800 in Osaka and rose 0.4 percent to 8805 in Singapore. Honda climbed 1.6 percent to 4,540 yen. Japan's second- largest automaker gets about 90 percent of its operating profit from North America. Toyota Motor Corp. added 2 percent to 3,080 yen. The world's third-largest automaker gets about 80 percent of its operating profit from North America. TDK gained 3.8 percent 5,740 yen. Japan's largest maker of magnetic parts for hard-disk drives gets more than two-thirds of its sales from overseas. U.S. payrolls fell by 17,000 in May as the world's economy lost fewer jobs than some economists forecast and employment was better than initially reported in April, the Labor Department said on Friday. Reports later this week are expected to show that U.S. retail sales rebounded in May and a consumer sentiment index by the University of Michigan increased to the highest in a year.
Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Japan's largest bank, jumped 13 percent to 85,200 yen on speculation that the conversion price for its 1.1 trillion preferred share sale in March was set today. That eased concern some preferred shareholders will sell the common stock to obtain the right to receive more shares, some traders said. //www.bloomberg.com