Nikkei Gains 2.17% for Biggest Gain of the Year -- 16,000 This Week? -- ADRs to Watch (TMIC, TDK, KUB, NMR)

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 334.65 points (2.17%) for its biggest trading day of the year. It now stands at 15,738.70, up 36.99% for the year and is the highest its been since October 2000. The broader and bank-heavy TOPIX Index turned in a nice day as well, up 26.29 points or 1.65%. Similar to recent trading days with high gains this one was dominated by non-exporter companies as well. Stocks with ADRs saw some nice gains but they were overshadowed by domestic-demand stocks. Bank stocks were up after the costly US$200+ million trading mistake last week by the securities arm of Mizuho Financial Group. And the overall market sentiment was very positive ahead of Wednesday's quarterly business sentiment report by the government known as the Tankan.

Nikkei 225: +334.65 (+2.17%) closed at 15,738.70, opened 145 points higher than Friday's close of 15,405.05, intra-day high of 15,764.99, low of 15,548.46

TOPIX: +26.29 (+1.65%) closed at 1,617.52, opened nearly 13 points higher than Friday's close of 1,591.23, intra-day high of 1,621.81, low of 1,604.08

JASDAQ: +1.61 (+1.40%) closed at 116.68, traded between 115.78 and 116.69

Yen: last posted rate Y120.35/US$1

Today's ADRs to watch based on earlier trading of underlying shares in Tokyo:

* Advancers: Trend Micro (TMIC) +4.12%, TDK (TDK) +3.68%, Kubota (KUB) +3.66%, Nomura Holdings (NMR) +3.24%, Millea Holdings (MLEA) +2.46%, Advantest (ATE) +2.20%

* Decliners: Matsushita Electric Industrial (MC) -1.08%, NEC (NIPNY) -0.80%, NTT DoCoMo (DCM) -0.54%

This is an extract of what I posted back on Dec. 2nd after the Nikkei had a big day and went over 15,400:

So, to answer the question, “Will the Nikkei 225 hit 16,000 by the end of the month?