Japanese stocks rose Tuesday, extending gains from last week on rekindled confidence in the country's economic recovery. The dollar fell against the yen, AP reported. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 59.12 points, or 0.48 percent, to 12,315.67 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Topix index, which measures all shares on the exchange's first section, gained 3.35 points, or 0.27 percent, to 1,252.12. Japanese trading was expected to be slow this week as Japan celebrates its Buddhist summer holidays to honor the dead. The stock market and the yen appeared to be unaffected by a magnitude-7.2 earthquake quake that hit northern Japan shortly before midday. No major damage or injuries were reported. The Nikkei carried over some momentum from last week, when it rose 4.2 percent from Monday through Thursday. The index rose to 12,263.32 on Thursday, its highest since August 7, 2001. Shares also got a boost for an overnight advance on Wall Street, where technology stocks gained on lower oil prices. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 34.07, or 0.32 percent, to 10,634.38, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 10.14, or 0.47 percent, to 2,167.04. That prompted players in Tokyo to buy technology shares such as Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Advantest Corp. which lagged behind in the recent rally. «Bargain-hunting pushed up the laggards among exporters like electronics companies following the rise in New York shares,» said Ichiyoshi Investment's chief fund manager Mitsushige Akino. --mor 1329 Local Time 1029 GMT
