Roundup: Nikkei surges 1.85 percent to 7-year high on yen's retreat, solid machinery orders data

The Nikkei stock index surged 1.85 percent to its highest closing level in more than seven years Thursday, as the market reopened after a national holiday, during which time the yen had retreated against its major counterparts and robust machinery orders helped parry concerns about Greece's debt talks.

The Nikkei 225 index added 327.04 points, to end the day at 17, 979.72, marking its highest closing level since July 2007, while the broader Topix index of all first-section issues gained 1.52 percent, or 21.67 points, to finish at 1,449.39.

Trading got off to a positive start, local brokers said, as the U.S. dollar gained on hopes the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin to raise its interest rates as early as June, as the labor market has shown positive signs of growth recently.

In addition, investors were also inspired by data from the Cabinet Office Thursday showing that core machine orders in Japan jumped 8.3 percent on month in December, far higher than the 2.3 percent predicted by median analysts, and coming on the heels of a 1.3 percent increase logged in November.

The data also showed that on a yearly basis, core machine orders surged 11.4 percent and that the total number of machinery orders, including those volatile ones for ships and from electric power companies, gained 8.6 percent on month and 2.9 percent on year.

Manufacturing orders surged 24.1 percent on month and 27.1 percent on year, while non-manufacturing orders jumped 7.2 percent on month and 2 percent on year, the government report said.

For the fourth quarter of 2014, core machine orders edged up 0. 4 percent on quarter to 2,419.6 billion yen, while for the whole of 2014, core machine orders gained an annual 4 percent, the data showed. For the first quarter of 2015, core machine orders are forecast to have risen 1.5 percent on quarter, the Cabinet Office data showed.

With machinery orders being a key advance indicator for corporate capital spending, with the government using the data to predict the strength of business spending in a six to nine month period ahead, with such business investment accounting for roughly 15 percent of Japan's gross domestic product, analysts are keenly eyeing the government and the central bank's reaction to the machinery order data, and other macroeconomic figures, to determine if any monetary easing measures will be taken.

"These were very strong numbers above the market consensus," said Masashi Akutsu, an equity strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. "It's another sign Japan's economy is recovering," the strategist said, referring to the machinery order figures.

But despite the market's positives Thursday, concerns remain about Greece's plight, as finance ministers from the 19-nation eurozone bloc failed to reach a consensus on how to keep Greece financed.

Both parties are at loggerheads, with officials from the EU urging Greece to stick to the original bailout deal, while Greece maintains the deal has left the nation impoverished.

Greece's left-wing Syriza party must leave the negotiations with good news for its people as they were voted into power recently on an anti-austerity pledge that promised to bring an end to the bailout.

Greece's creditors, however, maintain that the terms of the bailout must be adhered to.

In currency markets, the U.S. dollar was changing hands at 120. 15 yen, sharply up from 118.50 yen logged in Tokyo on Tuesday before the markets closed for a national holiday.

Exporters duly rose as the yen dropped, with top automaker Toyota accelerating 1.8 percent to 7,851 yen, while Nissan Motor Co. gained 2 percent to 1,127 yen.

Nikon Corp. added 1.7 percent to 1,463 yen and Sony climbed 5.1 percent to 3,231 yen, following the company's weighting on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index being raised. Also giving Sony issues a boost, was news that Sony has inked a deal with Walt Disney to make a new Spiderman film.

But heavily weighted SoftBank lost 0.5 percent to 7,094 yen, after reporting its third-quarter net income plummeted 80 percent to 18.7 billion yen, more than median estimates.

Industrial robotics maker Fanuc, another heavyweight, found traction however, leaping 6.2 percent to 22,045 yen, following reports a U.S. hedge fund has bought a stake in the company and is advising a share buyback scheme.

Real estate firm Mitsui Fudosan added 3 percent to 3,231 yen, after announcing a robust group net profit in the April-December period, but oil importer Showa Shell Sekiyu relinquished 6.2 percent to 1,087 yen, after reporting a net loss for the year.

Trading volume on Thursday jumped to 2.77 billion shares on the Tokyo Exchange's First Section, up from Tuesday's volume of 2.00 billion shares, with advancing issues outnumbering declining ones by 1,258 to 497. Endi