Roundup: Nikkei adds 0.89 pct on upbeat U.S. data, rebound in crude prices

The Nikkei stock index rose 0.89 percent Monday following increased confidence in the health of the U.S. economy, punctuated by prices of crude oil staging a rebound which also contributed to a brighter market mood and saw investors emerge from last week's risk-on triggered safe havens.

The Nikkei 225 gained 150.13 points to close the day at 17,014. 29, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 8.68 points, or 0.64 percent, to finish at 1,372.41.

Local traders said that the market mood was lifted from the get- go thanks to a strong lead from Wall Street following a string of closing lows last week brought about by plummeting prices and worries about over surplus of crude oil.

Political and economic woes in the eurozone, including Greece and its possible move away from the single currency European union had also seen investors flee from riskier assets like stocks and into safe havens like the yen, which pushes its value up versus its major counterparts.

But U.S. shares snapped five-days of losses as crude's prices rebounded, with investor sentiment further lifted by the University of Michigan's January reading of U.S. consumer sentiment hitting its highest level in more than ten years and factory output in the United States rising 0.3 percent in December for a second straight month, having posted a 1.3 percent increase a month earlier.

With the yen retreating, giving some exporter and tech shares a boost, and solid economic indicators coming out from the United States, analysts here said that the market would likely not move too much henceforth, as investors look to chase issues moderately higher, or cash in on recent gains, while eyeing upcoming meetings at central banks, including the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank.

"Oil has rebounded, the yen has weakened and the market has moved towards a risk-on direction. This week we have the Bank of Japan meeting and many other events, and so the market is unlikely to move much before that," said Shoji Hirakawa, chief equity strategist at Okasan Securities Co.

In currency markets, the yen drew back 1.2 percent to 117.51 per dollar on Friday, marking its first retreat in six day, but strengthened by 0.3 percent Monday against the U.S. dollar.

But with lead indicator for more than 50 percent of the world's oil, Brent crude, climbing 5.2 percent on Friday, its biggest surge since June 2012, despite some early gains been pared by the yen's rise, investors were predominantly in a risk-on mood, owing to the current situation surrounding crude oil's prices.

Oil exploration giant Inpex found traction Monday, climbing 2.4 percent to 1,264 yen on rising oil prices, but airlines tumbled as fuel prices become more expensive, and Japan Airlines Co. dropped 1.9 percent to 3,720 yen, while ANA Holdings Inc. fell 1.3 percent to close at 300 yen.

Among export-related issues, consumer electronics giant Sony rose 2.5 percent to 2,443 yen, while Canon Inc. added 0.8 percent to 3,787 yen. But while Honda Motor Co. accelerated 1 percent to 3, 624 yen, Sharp closed in negative territory Monday, tumbling 8.7 percent to 230 yen.

Sharp's descent marked its lowest closing level since December 2012, following the firm announcing its earnings for the year ending March will come in below median market expectations by " several tens of billions of yen", according to a statement from the consumer electronics maker.

Trading volume on Monday dropped to 2.03 billion shares on the Tokyo Exchange's First Section, down from Friday's volume of 2.71 billion shares, with advancing issues outnumbering declining ones by 1,152 to 561. Endi