By Masaki Kondo
Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's stocks jumped, capping a weekly gain and sending the Topix index to its sharpest gain in five months, after factory output unexpectedly rose and the U.S. economy grew faster than estimated.
Nippon Steel Corp., the second-largest maker of the alloy, surged 5.4 percent, the most in three months. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., the world's largest maker of consumer electronics, rose 2.7 percent after the U.S. economy expanded and slower consumer price gains in Tokyo suggested a retreat in nationwide inflation. Nintendo Co. soared 8.4 percent, the most in nine months, after lifting its profit forecast by a quarter.
``Investors like the domestic economic stats,'' said Kiyoshi Ishigane, a Tokyo-based senior strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co., which oversees about $61 billion. ``Inflationary pressure on households should ease, helping demand for goods and services to recover.''
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 304.62, or 2.4 percent, to close at 13,072.87 in Tokyo. The broader Topix index surged 35.18, or 2.9 percent, to 1,254.71, its sharpest gain since April 2. All 33 industry groups on the Topix rose.
Both gauges rose 3.2 percent on the week. The Topix fell 2.1 percent in August, while the Nikkei slipped 0.7 percent.
Factory output rose 0.9 percent in July from the previous month, Japan's trade ministry said today, while economists had expected a decline. That followed a report by the U.S. Commerce Department showing gross domestic product climbed at a 3.3 percent annualized pace in the second quarter, while economists had estimated a 2.7 percent increase.
Core prices, which exclude fresh food, rose 1.5 percent in Tokyo this month, lower than economists estimated and a decline from July. Nationwide inflation exceeded 2 percent in July for the first time in a decade, the government said today.
To contact the reporter for this story: Masaki Kondo in Tokyo at mkondo3@bloomberg.net.
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