Japanese Stocks Surge: TOPIX Index Closes Monday at 5-Year High, Nikkei Advances Nearly 2% (MC, TDK, TMIC, KNBWY, CAJ, TM, NMR)

The Tokyo Stock Exchange closed up higher today after strong gains across the board to begin the week. The TOPIX Index was up 24.89 (+1.75%)to close at 1,444.73, the Nikkei 225 closed up 259.96 (+1.95%) at 13,606.50, and the JASDAQ closed up .93 (+.89%) at 105.52. The TOPIX reached a new 5-year high.

Today's gains were fueled by the much better than expected 3rd quarter GDP report from the U.S. and from strong corporate earnings in Japan. Matsushita Electric Industrial (ticker: MC) led the way, its shares increasing 9% on the day following its surprising earnings report from Friday.

Japanese stocks with ADRs that closed up over 2% today in Tokyo include: TDK Corp (ticker: TDK), Trend Micro (ticker: TMIC), Kirin Brewery Co (ticker: KNBWY), Canon (ticker: CAJ), Toyota (ticker: TM), and Nomura Holdings (ticker: NMR).