Nikkei index on a tear

Japan's Nikkei index of 225 leading shares on Monday climbed to its highest level in almost five years. End-of-trading boards showed the index up by 1.89 percent, reflecting a rise of over 250 points to 13,568.37 points.

Monday's figure surpassed a peak recorded in July 2008 and was seen by analysts as a direct result of the G20 group of industrialized nations having refrained from explicitly criticizing Japan's policy of monetary easing at a weekend meeting in Washington.

"Following the G20, players feel comfortable selling the yen further," economist Yuji Saito from Credit Agricole said in Tokyo.

Popular measures

Analysts felt that if the symbolic 100 yen-per-dollar level was broken, it could trigger stop-loss buying and lift the greenback up to the next target. The Japanese government had interfered to help weaken the national currency to boost exports and share prices alike.

Japanese voters have been supportive of the course embarked upon by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his economic drive nicknamed "abenomics."

Voter backing for Abe's government came in at 76 percent in the most recent poll by the Nikkei business daily, up from 69 percent recorded in the previous survey in March.

hg/mkg (Reuters, dpa)