Tokyo small and mid-caps index up 6 percent

The Tokyo equities markets were substantially higher on Wednesday. The Nikkei 225 added 1.1 percent to 15,914.23 and the Topix index gained 1.3 percent to 1,552.87, while the Mothers index of small and mid-cap stocks was up 6 percent to 1,069.72 following multi-year lows reached earlier in the week. The gain in the Mothers index came as investors came to believe that stocks listed there have fallen enough to qualify as bargains.

Gains in the prices of metals took the non-ferrous metals sector 4.1 percent higher, with Sumitomo Metal Mining adding 3.4 percent to ¥1,414. Oil prices that were up Tuesday due to bad weather in Alaska sent Inpex 4.6 percent higher to ¥937,000.

Domestic sectors saw gains as well. The banking sector was up 2 percent as a whole, with Mitsubishi UFJ adding 2.2 percent to ¥1,420,000. Seven & I gained 2.3 percent to ¥3,500 in a retail sector that was 2.8 percent higher as a whole. The real estate sector was up 3 percent, with Mitsui Fudosan adding 2.1 percent to ¥2,620.

Telecommunications and internet company Softbank saw a gain of 8.4 percent on the session, to ¥2,320.

Among losers on the day was electronics maker NEC, dropping 5.6 percent to ¥557 on a report that showed losses in the first half and on a 64 percent downward revision in its prediction for the full year.

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