Japan’s Nikkei average soared 2.8 per cent in morning trading today, breaking above 14,000 for the first time since June 2008.
Investors were playing catch-up from an extended holiday, as last week’s strong U.S. jobs data eased concerns over the health of Japan’s biggest export market.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 364.22 points at 14,058.26 after closing for public holidays on Friday and Monday.
Japan’s top government spokesman said credit for the leap should go to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to kick start Japan’s economy, dubbed ‘Abenomics’.
A Stronger-than-expected US non-farm payrolls for April, with 165,000 jobs being added and the unemployment rate falling to 7.5 per cent, the lowest since December 2008, provided much needed relief to investors rattled by a series of soft data in recent weeks.
The United States is Japan’s biggest export market, followed closely by China.
