"A certain amount of money is flowing into Japanese stocks because they are relatively undervalued in terms of price-book ratios among global markets"
- Kazuyuki Terao, chief investment officer of RCM Japan Co.
Japanese stocks gained on Thursday after better-than-expected manufacturing data from the U.S. and Europe. The Nikkei 225 climbed 0.76%, or 67.03 points, to 8,876.82, while the broader Topix advanced 0.59%, or 4.49, to 762.45.
"Wednesday's manufacturing data was definitely good," said Masaru Hamasaki, chief strategist at Toyota Asset Management Co. "The global economy was largely swayed by European issues last year, but now it's returning to a recovery phase."
"We have more confirmation that business confidence in the U.S. and Europe is improving," said Mitsushige Akino, a fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. in Tokyo. "The European debt crisis is in a temporary lull, so stocks sensitive to the global economy will have a chance to gain."
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