LONDON (ShareCast) - Strong demand for commodities sent the Nikkei (news) up around 2% on Tuesday after a spike in crude oil while sentiment was also boosted by a report saying household spending
in Japan rose 0.3% in May.
The Nikkei touched 10,000 earlier in the session, but closed up 174 points at 9958 in Tokyo. The index marked its best quarter in over two decades.
Trading houses such as Mitsubishi Corp (MBC.IL - news) were up while shares in Inpex ticked higher. Nippon Steel (Berlin: NPS.BE - news) rose 3.6% after a government report said steel output is expected to recover.
In broker news Fujifilm and Nikon (Berlin: NKN.BE - news) stepped ahead on fresh optimism about increased demand for their products and as Mizuho Securities (Munich: 861497 - news) placed a "strong buy" rating on the stocks.
Key (NYSE: KEY - news) exporters Honda, Toyota and Sony (Munich: 853687 - news) were all higher in an upbeat session.
Elpida Memory (Berlin: FNO.BE - news) rose strongly, as did the wider tech sector, after the Japanese government announced it would inject 30bn yen into the chipmaker.
In economic news figures showed a surprise rise in household spending in May while separate figures showed unemployment hit a five-year high.
The Hang Seng turned lower after a promising start to the day, as traders booked profit at the end of the strongest quarter in over 15 years.
Commodities provided the biggest push. Energy stocks such as Sinopec and PetroChina were in strong demand as the price of US crude topped $71 a barrel.
China Mobile (0941.HK - news) lost initial gains to fall 0.51%.
The Hang Seng closed down 149 points at 18,379 in Hong Kong.
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