Nikkei climbs as optimism boosts exporters; banks up

TOKYO Oct 15 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average rose 2.1 percent on Thursday, led by exporters such as Honda Motor Co (7267.T) after robust U.S. company results and economic data pushed the Dow over 10,000 for the first time in a year.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T) and other banks gained in the wake of good results from JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), encouraging views other major Wall Street banks could report strong results this week. [.N]

The benchmark Nikkei .N225 gained 212.41 points to 10,272.62. The broader Topix .TOPX rose 1.6 percent to 909.01. (Reporting by Elaine Lies)