Nikkei exceeds 20 000: 15-year high but some jittery

Pedestrians are reflected in an electronic board showing Japan's Nikkei average outside a brokerage in Tokyo(Bloomberg) Japanese stocks swung between gains and losses after the Nikkei 225 Stock Average briefly traded above 20,000 for the first time in 15 years.

Fast Retailing Co. gained 3.9 percent as the clothier headed for a record after boosting its profit forecast. Aeon Co. jumped 5 percent after the supermarket operator’s full-year net- income outlook beat estimates. Shippers led declines on the Topix index, with Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. dropping 2.5 percent after JPMorgan & Chase Co. cut its rating on the shares. Kansai Electric Power Co. fell 1.8 percent after the Nikkei newspaper reported the company was losing contracts to cheaper utilities.

The Nikkei 225 gained 0.1 percent 19,960 as of 12:49 p.m. in Tokyo after briefly rising as high as 20,006, the strongest intraday level since April 2000. The Topix lost 0.1 percent to 1,592.48 after gaining as much as 0.2 percent, and headed for a weekly increase of 1.8 percent. The yen traded at 120.54 per dollar after yesterday weakening 0.4 percent as strong U.S. employment figures boosted the greenback.

“When we look back on this moment, the 20,000 figure should just be a stop along the road,” said Juichi Wako, a senior strategist at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Tokyo. “It wouldn’t be surprising if better- than-expected earnings lift the Nikkei to 21,000 or 22,000 by year’s end. However, above the 20,000 mark, we might begin to hear voices that stocks are a bit overvalued.”

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