Strong Start, Led by Exporters; Banks and Smaller Caps Lag

A pretty nice start to the week, with the Nikkei 225 Stock Average gaining 1.5% to 17,628.3 — it came within about 3 yen of hitting 17,700 intra-day. N225 futures in Osaka rose 1.4% to 17,650. TOPIX 1st section, the broader index, was up 1.2% to 1,725.60. Advancers outpaced decliners 1,169 x 441 (118 unchanged). 32 of 33 TOPIX sectors posted gains (only the other-financial [non-bank] sector was down. JASDAQ was down yet again, -0.92% to 81.11. The weak yen was not a topic at the G7′s meeting, which seemingly prompted the buying of export-oriented stocks and especially those that have been recent winners — take a look at Kyocera (JP: 6971) (KYO) +3% to ¥11,750 — matching its calendar year closing high, also a 52-wk high — and TDK (JP: 6762) (TDK) +2.8% to ¥10,720 — a new calendar year and 52-wk high. We actually like Nidec (JP: 6594) (NJ) here instead, but the momentum of TDK and Kyocera may persist for a while with some minor bumps in the form of profit-taking.