5:00AM New York, 7:00PM Tokyo – The government is still undecided with the BOJ governor appointment. Economic indicators index showed economic slowdown.

Leading indicators index of the Japan economy in January declined indicating economic slowdown. Only a day ago the government had reported a decline in capital spending and consumer confidence is on the decline. Despite the gloomy economic statistics, stocks rose tracking the gains in the U.S. markets.

Market Sentiment

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 rose 1.88% or 243.36 to 13,215.42, and the broader Topix Index gained 1.9% or 24.70 to 1,287.55.

Of the Nikkei 225 stocks 191 gained, 27 declined and 7 were unchanged. Kyowa Hakko Kog led advancers in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a rise of 10.64% followed by Fujikura Ltd climbing 7.05%.

Crude Oil record increase

Crude oil for April delivery rose 5% to $104.52 a barrel yesterday after OPEC maintained that it will not raise its production target and the U.S. Energy Department indicated that fuel inventories fell by three million barrels when they are supposed to be rising. Also, Venezuela set its tanks to the Colombian border further raising tensions in the region.

Gasoline prices rise

Japan Times reported that the Oil Information Center said today the nationwide price of a liter of regular gasoline rose for the first time in 11 weeks at the beginning of this week to 151.90 yen per liter. The recent increase in retail price has followed a price hike by the oil importers.

Commodity prices surge

Commodity prices continue to rise driven by a slumping dollar that forced investors to seek alternative investment options. Copper for delivery in three months increased 0.9% to $8,720 a metric ton, and nickel increased 2.7% to $34,300 a ton.

Aluminum for delivery in three months rose 0.5% to $3,221.25 a ton.

Leading Index falls

The Cabinet Office reported on its web site that the Leading Index, which measures how the economy will fare in the next three to six months, fell to 30% in January from 50% in December. The Coincident Index, which gauges the state of the economy, fell to 22% from 63.6% the previous month.

Also the Lagging Index plummeted to 62.5% from 66.7% a month ago.

Gainers & Losers

Kyowa Hakko Kog led advancers in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a rise of 10.64% followed by gains in Fujikura Ltd of 7.05%, in Sumco Corp. of 6.93%, in Sumitomo Chemical Co of 6.68%, and in Okuma Corp 0f 6.38%.

Inpex also rose 5.98% after crude oil traded above $104 per barrel yesterday. Mitsubishi Corp and Nippon Light Metals increased 4.04% and 3.95% respectively as commodity prices gained.

Exporters gained tracking the U.S. market volatility. Canon Inc increased 2.20%, Sharp advanced 1.56% and Sony gained 0.41%.

NGK Insulators led decliners in the Nikkei 225 stocks with a slump of 3.72% followed by losses in Kumagai Gumi Co of 2.70%, in Osaka Gas Co Ltd of 2.69%, in Nippon Steel of 2.49%, and in Konica Minolta Holdings of 2.44%.