Japan stocks rally, with exporters, energy rising
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LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks thundered higher in the opening minutes of Monday trade, driven by Chinese monetary easing over the weekend, and hopes for an impending Greek debt deal, with a jump in crude-oil prices also pushing energy shares higher. The Nikkei Stock Average JP:NIK +1.54% surged 1.7% to 9,539.09, while the Topix added 1,5%. With European leaders meeting to agree to a deal to prevent a messy Greek default likely later in the day, and with a bank-reserve cut in China aiming to help growth there, major exporters were significantly higher. Sony Corp. JP:6758 +2.77% SNE +0.44% rose 2.5%, Toshiba Corp. JP:6502 +3.24% TOSYY -0.50% gained 3%, Mazda Motor Corp. JP:7261 +2.47% MZDAF +6.11% climbed 3.7%, Nintendo Co. JP:7974 +2.24% NTDOF +3.79% improved by 2.8%, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. JP:7012 +6.47% KWHIF -7.89% shot 6.5% higher. Benchmark Nymex crude-oil futures moved above $104 a barrel, propelling oil majors, with Inpex Corp. JP:1605 +3.81% IPXHY +5.88% up 3.3%, and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. JP:1662 +3.74% JPTXF +2.00% higher by 3.2%.