Nikkei Surges in Late Afternoon Trading to Close at Highest Point of the Year, ADRs to Watch (SNE, FUJIY, ATE, NMR, KYO)

After today's 200+ point gain, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average is now up over 40% on the year. Today's trading was fueled by positive economic data showing industrial production increased for the fourth consecutive month and retail sales at larger stores rose over last year in same store sales. A stronger dollar also helped major exporter stocks such as Sony (SNE), which led all stocks that have ADRs.

Nikkei 225: +225.21 (+1.41%) closed at 16,194.61, opened nearly 70 points lower than prior close of 15,969.40, intra-day high was at closing, low was 15,911.23

TOPIX: +15.99 (+0.98%) closed at 1,653.92, opened nearly 3 points lower than prior close of 1,637.93, intra-day high was 1,654.48, low was 1,633.93

JASDAQ: +2.52 (+2.01%) closed at 127.96, traded between 125.38 and 127.96

Yen: last posted rate Y117.32/US$1

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

* Advancers: Sony (SNE) +3.47%, Fuji Photo Film (FUJIY) +2.83%, Advantest (ATE) +2.75%, Nomura Holdings (NMR) +2.0%, Kyocera (KYO) +1.54%

* Decliners: Sanyo Electric (SANYY) -1.45%, Matsushita Electric Industrial (MC) -1.10%