Japan stocks extend gains, Nikkei over 3 pct
(Updates to midafternoon)
TOKYO, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks extended gains on Friday, with the Nikkei riding a wave of short-covering over 3 percent and banks bought after news that troubled U.S. bond insurer Ambac may be in talks with a buyer.
Sojitz (2768.T) and other trading houses rose after hefty overnight gains in copper, while blue-chip exporters such as Honda Motor Corp (7267.T) climbed as the yen retreated. "We're seeing short-covering across the board, with high-tech firms also doing well after sharp gains on Wall Street," said Takahiko Murai, general manager of equities at Nozomi Securities.
He added that it was hard to say how long the rises might continue, with dealers likely to start closing out positions ahead of the weekend and the market watching Indian shares .BSESN, which fell on Thursday.
At 0407 GMT the Nikkei .N225 was at 2.9 percent and 13,472.08, up 379.30 points, and the broader TOPIX up 3.3 percent at 1,326.39. Gains in global equity markets and Chinese buying helped copper gain almost 3 percent in London on Thursday, and copper markets were edging up in Asia on Friday. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd (5713.T), a topclass smelter of nonferrous metals and a leader in overseas mining, jumped 7.3 percent to 1,721 yen.
Sojitz was up 7.3 percent at 355 yen, Marubeni (8002.T) was up 6.7 percent at 689 yen, and Itochu Corp (8001.T) was up 6.3 percent. Banks were up sharply, with industry No. 2 Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T) rising 8.1 percent to 495,000 yen and industry leader Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T) up 4.8 percent. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (8316.T) was up 5.3 percent at 816,000 yen.
Nissan rose 5.9 percent to 994 yen, while Honda Motor Corp was up 5.5 percent at 3,240 yen, becoming the third-biggest booster of the Nikkei by volume weight.
Other good performers among blue-chip exporters were Hitachi (6501.T), up 5 percent at 750 yen, and Canon Inc (7751.T), up 5.7 percent at 4,810 yen.
(Reporting by Elaine Lies)
