Nikkei gains 0.69% as BOJ maintains monetary policy, yen weakens

Tokyo stocks rose Tuesday with the benchmark Nikkei stock index gaining 0.69 percent as the yen's weakening sent exporters higher as the central bank's decision to maintain its monetary policy was widely expected. Traders here said that on the one hand investors were still chasing bargains on issues that had previously been oversold and on the other, hit the sidelines in a thin day of trade, not wanting to bet for or against the central bank's decision Tuesday following a two-day policy meeting. The BOJ maintained its pledge to expand the monetary base at a pace of 60 trillion to 70 trillion yen per year, in a move widely expected. In addition the BOJ stuck to its view that economic growth and consumer price increases remain on course. The central bank, however, lowered its view of exports but upgraded its view of capital expenditure and industrial production. "The market was hit by selling from those who had expected too much from the BOJ," said Takuya Takahashi, a senior strategist at Daiwa Securities Co. Other analysts said that investors were cautious Tuesday as any changes to policy by the BOJ could have led to a large short-cover rally. "The prior BOJ policy announcement on Feb. 18 was aggressive and substantial enough to cause a massive short-cover rally in the stock market, so traders were understandably much more cautious this time," said Yoshihiro Okumura, general manager at Chibagin Asset Management. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average added 103.97 points from Monday to finish at 15,224.11, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 5.6 points, or 0.46 percent, to close at 1,233.21. Export-related issues gained on a comparatively weak yen, with Honda Motor jumping 2.9 percent to 3,840 yen, while larger rival Toyota Motor edged up 0.4 percent to 5,842 yen. Sharp rose 0.6 yen to 321 yen, following news the consumer electronics maker may form a tie-up with Comcast Corp. to produce LCD TVs with built-in cable receivers. Mechanical seal maker Eagle Industry also closed in positive territory Tuesday, gaining 1.6 percent to 1,794 yen, but Toto dropped 1.2 percent to 1,450 yen following a downgrade by SMBC Nikko Securities. Trading volume on Tuesday dropped to 1.81 billion shares on the Tokyo Exchange's First Section, down from Monday's volume of 1.87 billion shares, with advancing issues outnumbering declining ones by 1,144 to 492.