Nikkei rises on relief over Kuroda’s BOJ reappointment; posts 1.6 pct weekly gain

February 16,2018

TOKYO, Feb 16 (Reuters) – Japanese stocks rose on Friday, with investors relieved to see the government appoint Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda for another term and choose an advocate of bolder monetary easing as one of his deputies.

The Nikkei .N225 ended 1.2 percent higher to 21,720.25. For the week, it rose 1.6 percent.

The government also nominated Masazumi Wakatabe, a professor at Waseda University and an advocate of aggressive monetary easing, as deputy governor.

BOJ Executive Director Masayoshi Amamiya, a veteran central banker known for masterminding monetary policy strategies, was nominated for the second deputy governor post. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1Q559Z

“In the short term, the BOJ gave the stock market relief by not derailing Kuroda’s monetary policy. It sent a message to the market that the main part of Abenomics will not change,” said Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.

“It must have made the right choice by selecting Wakatabe and Amamiya when the market is volatile.”

The broader Topix .TOPX gained 1.1 percent to 1,737.37, with all 33 subsectors in positive territory. Shares in utilities, food and medicine companies, which are the most sensitive to domestic demand, outperformed.

Tokyo Electric Power9501.T soared 4.4 percent, Chubu Electric Power Co9502.T jumped 6.5 percent, Astellas Pharma4503.T gained 1.2 percent and Ajinomoto Co2802.T added 2.0 percent.

Chip-related stocks were also strong, with Tokyo Electron8035.T and Advantest Corp6857.T both rising 1.8 percent.