Japanese Markets Gain Following Strong GDP Report

Japanese stocks were trading higher on Monday. The Nikkei 225 gained 1.59 percent, or 277 points to 17,651.50, and the TOPIX rose 1.44 percent, or 19.8 points to 1,398.11.

Japan’s GDP rose at an annualized rate of 2.2 percent in the third quarter, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.9 percent growth.

Shares of Resona Holdings (8308) gained over 4 percent, after the company raised its profit outlook for the year ending March 2017.

iShares MSCI Japan ETF EWJ rose 0.14 percent to close at $49.50, while iShares MSCI Pacific ex-Japan Idx (ETF) EPP dropped 0.56 percent to close at $40.70 on Friday.

The U.S. dollar climbed to 107.60 against the Japanese yen.

West Texas Intermediate for December delivery fell 0.02 percent to trade at $44.14 per barrel on the NYMEX, while Brent for December settlement gained 0.07 percent to $44.78 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.

U.S. markets closed mostly higher overnight, with the Dow climbing 0.21 percent to 18,847.66, and the NASDAQ gaining 0.54 percent to 5,237.11.

Top market movers among the Japanese market are as follows:

• Shares of Toyo Kanetsu KK (6369) climbed around 28 percent to 292.0 JPY.
• Spancrete Corp (5277) shares rose around 25 percent to 367.0 JPY.
• Pixel Companyz Inc (2743) shares increased over 23 percent to 350.0 JPY.

• Toyo Tire & Rubber Co Ltd (5105) shares dropped around 18 percent to 1,370.0 JPY.
• Globalway Inc (3936) declined over 16 percent to 5,290.0 JPY.
• Shinhokoku Steel Corp (5542) shares fell 15 percent to 1,268.0 JPY.