13th December 2013
The Nikkei 225 index has advanced today (December 13th), ending a three-day decline as the yen weakened against the dollar.
This helps to increase repatriated earnings for Japanese companies trading abroad and generally tends to boost the Tokyo blue-chip index.
Amid continuing speculation the Federal Reserve is preparing to begin scaling back its asset purchases at its December 17th-18th policy meeting, the dollar strengthened to a three-year high against the yen and the Nikkei was propelled higher by its heavyweight exporters.
Data released yesterday showed US retail sales increased by more than anticipated in November, reinforcing expectations the central bank will taper its quantitative easing programme as early as next week.
The Nikkei 225 closed 0.4 per cent higher at 15,403.11 points, having initially moved lower in early trading.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng added 0.12 per cent, while Australia's ASX/200 advanced by 0.71 per cent, trimming its weekly loss following a strong performance from its financial stocks.
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