Share prices in Tokyo closed sharpry higher this morning on growing hopes for an economic recovery in Japan. On Friday, the Cabinet Office published stronger-than-expected private sector machinery order data that showed that orders rose 2.4pc in June following a 6.5pc gain in May. The government publishes second quarter GDP data tomorrow that is expected to show a slight improvement in growth. Economists say Japanese GDP grew by 0.2p in the three months to June after expanding by 0.1pc in the first quarter.
The Nikkei 225 index climbed 160.27 points, or 1.7pc, to 9,487.80, while the broader Topix index rose 11.05 points, or 1.2pc, to 928.52, as the domestic data offset a decline by US high tech stocks on Friday. Following the machinery orders report, construction equipment Komatsu rose almost 7pc, while Iwatsu Electric, the telecommunication equipment maker, surged 17pc. DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile phone operator, added 2.1pc following its earnings report last week. //www.fxcentre.com