Japanese stocks jump to highest level in six months due to the decline of the local currency Yen

Japanese stocks jumped on Thursday to its highest level in six months, extending gains for the fifth session in a row, due to the wide rise of export companies, especially automakers benefiting from the decline in the local currency the yen, in addition to the high sentiment due to the rise of US stocks.

The Nikkei closed up almost 363.59 points or 1.39 percent to 17,235.50 points, its highest close since last April, and the Topix index climbed 13.60 points or 1.0 percent to 1,370.80 points.

Japanese shares ended yesterday's trading higher by about 0.2 percent, in the fourth one-day gain in a row, with the rise of shares of Sharp and Mitsubishi Motors.

The Japanese yen fell 0.3 percent against the US dollar, trading at 103.7 yen per US dollar, which boosted the rise of shares of export companies, especially automakers which rely on the weakness of the local currency to maximize foreign revenue.

And real estate companies also provided strong gains to be one of the biggest gainers among all sectors on the TOPIX index, Mitsubishi real estate shares rose 4.3 percent and Sumitomo shares rose by 4.7 percent.

Futures for the S & P 500 rose 0.3 percent, and the index ended yesterday's session on Wall Street, up by 0.2 percent, the second daily gain in a row, supported by gains of energy and commodities companies.