TOKYO, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed sharply higher Monday as investor sentiment was bolstered by a solid lead from Wall Street late last week, with the Bank of Japan's additional easing measures to mitigate the downside effects of the coronavirus adding support.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 521.22 points, or 2.71 percent, from Friday to close the day at 19,783.22.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, added 25.96 points, or 1.83 percent, to finish at 1,447.25.
Trading got off to a bright start on the back of a solid lead from New York late last week as markets were levied by some U.S. states beginning to lift stay-at-home restrictions amid the coronavirus outbreak, with some businesses reopening their doors, local brokers said.
Also adding to the market's upward momentum were some better-than-expected earnings reports for fiscal 2019 and outlooks from the tech sector, which underscored continued demand in spite of the effects of the global pandemic, they added.
Although not unexpected, Japan's central bank rolling out additional easing measures to cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus, also provided some relief to investors, market strategists here said.
As part of the bank's latest moves, it decided to remove its annual cap of 80 trillion yen (746 billion U.S. dollars) on the amount by which it can increase its balance of holdings of government bonds.
With no ceiling on the purchase target, the BOJ will be able to buy government bonds as it deems fit to prevent long-term interest rates surging.
The BOJ also decided to increase its target for corporate bond and commercial paper purchases from 7.4 trillion yen (69 billion U.S. dollars) introduced in March, to 20 trillion yen (186 billion U.S. dollars) in total until the end of September.
The central bank also announced that its new policy introduced in March enabling it to provide loans against corporate debt of about 8 trillion yen (74 billion U.S. dollars) as of the end of February as collateral at the interest rate of zero percent with maturity of up to one year, would be increased to 23 trillion yen (214 billion U.S. dollars) as of the end of March.
The BOJ, however, opted not to plunge its short-term interest rates further into negative territory, past the current level of 0.1 percent, amid concerns such a move would diminish profits at commercial banks, analysts here highlighted.
"The BOJ's decision, though widely expected, gave a sense of relief to the market that many companies could avert bankruptcy," Makoto Sengoku, a market analyst at the Tokai Tokyo Research Institute, was quoted as saying.
Among tech issues finding favor on solid earnings and outlooks, Advantest Corp. climbed 8.4 percent, after forecasting a 14.2 percent year-on-year increase in its operating profit for the April-June quarter.
Another major bellwether for the tech sector, factory automation firm Fanuc Corp., surged 12.0 percent, owing to its profit losses for the year ended in March being less than market expectations.
Financial issues advanced on the latest BOJ measures, with Mizuho Financial Group adding 2.1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rising 2.3 percent, while Japan Post Bank ended the day 1.8 percent higher.
By the close of play, marine transportation, iron and steel, and electric appliance-linked issues comprised those that gained the most, and issues that rose outpaced those that fell by 1,752 to 369 on the First Section, while 49 ended the day unchanged.
On the main section on Monday, 1.247 billion shares changed hands, dropping from Friday's volume of 1.327 billion shares.
The turnover on the first trading day of the week came to 2.011 trillion yen (18.769 billion U.S. dollars). Enditem
