By Masaki Kondo
Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks rose, capping a fifth weekly gain, as commodities companies and machinery makers advanced on higher metal prices and speculation Chinese demand will boost earnings.
Mitsubishi Corp., a trading company that gets more than a third of sales from commodities, added 3.3 percent after a top- ranked analyst at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said a recovery in steel production made trading companies more attractive. Komatsu Ltd. the world’s No. 2 maker of earthmoving equipment, and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., a smaller rival, gained more than 5 percent after analysts said demand is picking up in China.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 80.14, or 0.8 percent, to close at 10,597.33 in Tokyo. The broader Topix index rose 5.16, or 0.5 percent, to 973.57.
“Demand for construction machinery will likely hold up for some time in China,” said Naoki Fujiwara, chief fund manager at Tokyo-based Shinkin Asset Management Co., which oversees the equivalent of $3.7 billion. “The point is whether the recovery in demand will spread across countries such as Brazil or Middle Eastern nations as commodities prices pick up.”
For the week, both benchmark gauges advanced 1.8 percent for a fifth week of gains, the longest streak since the five weeks ended April 10.
The Nikkei has climbed 50 percent from a more than quarter- century low on March 10, as improved economic statistics and corporate earnings fanned optimism the global economy is recovering. Stocks on the gauge traded at 1.41 times their corporate net worth, a level not seen in 11 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporter for this story: Masaki Kondo in Tokyo at mkondo3@bloomberg.net.
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