Japan stocks jump, led by property and banks
(Updates to midmorning)
TOKYO, May 2 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average was up 1.7 percent on Friday, at its highest level in two months, with Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T) and other banks surging after a Wall Street rally prompted in part by growing investor confidence in the U.S. economy. Property developers such as Sumitomo Realty & Development Co Ltd (8830.T) also forged higher, while Honda Motor Co (7267.T) and other exporters gained on a stronger dollar.
Canon Inc (7751.T) climbed after saying it would invest 60 billion yen ($575 million) to build a new toner cartridge plant in the United States. [ID:nT153178]
"Sentiment about the U.S. economy is brightening a bit and stocks appear to be rising on long-term hopes about this, even though there is still some concern about the jobs data due out later today," said Yumi Nishimura, manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC.
"Some profit-taking is emerging above 14,000 but there's no sense of significant selling."
The benchmark Nikkei .N225 rose more than 2 percent shortly after the open, hitting 14,051.85 to mark the highest level since Feb. 27. At 0036 GMT it was up 242.26 points to 14,009.12.
The broader TOPIX gained 1.9 percent after earlier climbing more than 2 percent.
Sumitomo Realty was up 5.6 percent to 2,645 yen while rival Mitsui Fudosan Co Ltd (8801.T) rose 3.9 percent to 2,685 yen. Tokyu Land Corp (8815.T), another major real estate developer, rose 4.3 percent to 779 yen.
Banks also surged, with Mizuho Financial up 4.3 percent to 535,000 yen and top lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T) up 3.3 percent to 1,137 yen.
The dollar's rise to the mid-104 yen level JPY= helped exporters power higher, with some -- such as Canon -- rising on individual factors as well.
Canon gained 3.1 percent to 5,410 yen while Sony Corp (6758.T) rose 3.1 percent to 4,940 yen.
Sony's 2007/08 profit likely jumped 5.3 times on strong sales of digital cameras and computers, but it likely missed the company's forecast by about 30 billion yen ($287 million), the Nikkei business daily reported on Friday. (Reporting by Elaine Lies; editing by Brent Kininmont)
