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Nikkei ends above 23,000 for first time in 13 months following Wall Street surge

Nov 05, 2019 (Japan Times) - Tokyo stocks staged a sharp rebound on Tuesday, allowing the benchmark Nikkei average to finish above 23,000 for the first time in nearly 13 months.

The 225-issue Nikkei average closed up 401.22 points, or 1.76 percent, at 23,251.99. The Nikkei last closed above the psychologically important threshold on Oct. 10 last year. On Friday, the key market gauge fell 76.27 points. The Tokyo market was closed on Monday for a national holiday.

The Topix index of all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 27.66 points, or 1.66 percent, to end at 1,694.16, after a 0.51-point drop the previous trading day.

The market shot up immediately after the opening bell as investors rushed to make purchases in view of a continued Wall Street rally to send the Dow Jones industrial average to a fresh all-time high on Monday.

Sentiment was brightened by growing optimism that the United States and China are on track to sign the so-called phase one trade deal, brokers said.

U.S. President Donald Trump suggested on Friday that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping would sign the deal in Iowa, while U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in an interview on Sunday that licenses for U.S. companies to sell components to Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. would come shortly.

The market extended gains in the afternoon supported by the yen’s weakening against the dollar and bullish performance of Shanghai stocks, brokers said.

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Japan's World Cup campaign begins on June 14 when the Samurai Blue face the Netherlands at Dallas Stadium in Texas, a clash that will showcase some of the game's most talented players and pit two ambitious teams against one another in a crucial Group F opener. While Japan arrives without injured winger Kaoru Mitoma, one of its most recognizable stars, the squad still boasts a wealth of talent drawn from Europe's top leagues.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) announced that an El Niño phenomenon is believed to have developed this spring, warning that Japan is likely to experience above-average temperatures nationwide this summer despite the climate pattern's traditional association with cooler summers.

Narita International Airport Corporation is expected to announce next month that it will apply to the national government for project certification as part of the process to enable compulsory land acquisition for the construction of a new runway at Narita Airport, according to sources familiar with the matter.

A fire broke out at Arima Inari Shrine near the Arima Onsen hot spring resort area in Kobe on the night of June 9th, destroying multiple buildings and leaving an elderly Shinto priest and his wife with minor injuries.

Japan's national soccer team arrived in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 8th from Monterrey, Mexico, where it had been conducting a pre-World Cup training camp, and held its first practice session at its base camp for the FIFA World Cup in North America.

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A fire broke out at Arima Inari Shrine near the Arima Onsen hot spring resort area in Kobe on the night of June 9th, destroying multiple buildings and leaving an elderly Shinto priest and his wife with minor injuries.

Two men, including the head of the Japan Cycling Association, have been arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department on suspicion of defrauding two men in Kagoshima Prefecture out of 30 million yen by falsely promising a massive return on a purported patent-related investment.

A bear that had been repeatedly spotted in commercial and residential areas of Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, was captured in a residential neighborhood at around 3:30 p.m. on June 9th after authorities used a tranquilizer gun, but the city remains on alert because police say they cannot rule out the possibility that another bear may still be roaming the area.

Nara Prefectural Police have arrested seven people, including a 46-year-old Yokohama man who described himself as a "messenger of God," on suspicion of unlawfully confining a teenage boy entrusted to their care by his parents, allegedly threatening him, confiscating his belongings, and forcing him to sleep naked.

A man believed to be in his 50s or 60s was found dead with knives lodged in his left eye and abdomen inside a container at a company property in Kobe's Suma Ward on June 8th, prompting police to investigate the possibility of a criminal case.

The family of James "Weston" Higginbotham, a 20-year-old Auburn University student who disappeared during a family vacation in Japan, announced on June 7th that he has been found dead after a volunteer search-and-rescue team located his body in a mountainous area outside Kyoto, bringing a week-long multinational search to a tragic end.

A clinic director and a former Peruvian staff member have been referred to prosecutors after the man allegedly performed medical procedures without a license, including an external cephalic version—a procedure used to manually turn a baby into the correct position before birth—at an obstetrics and gynecology clinic in Fukuoka City, raising concerns about patient safety and oversight in maternity care.

A 14-year-old junior high school girl was arrested on suspicion of robbery resulting in injury after allegedly spraying a woman in her 60s in the face and stealing her wallet during a robbery attempt in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture.