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Tokyo - Shares in some of Japan's biggest electronics firms surged on Tuesday as the yen hit a seven-year low in response to the surprise decision last week by country's central bank to ramp up its stimulus programme.
The announcement on Friday by the Bank of Japan to widen its asset-purchase scheme sent the yen tumbling to 114 against the dollar by Monday lunchtime, while the Nikkei had tacked on more than eight percent in the same time, with exporters the main winners.
Sony jumped 11.19% to ¥2 304.0 and Panasonic soared 7.04% to ¥1 397.0, while Sharp was up 5.10% at ¥288.0 and camera maker Olympus rose 6.38% to ¥4 165.0.
In Tuesday's forex trade, the yen was at ¥113.59, against ¥113.99 in New York on Monday.
A weak yen is good for major Japanese exporters as it makes them more competitive abroad and inflates their repatriated profits.
"The BoJ endorsed a weak yen in a sense," said Hirokazu Kabeya, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.
He added that it was "natural" for Sony and its rivals to jump in line with the yen's movements.
"They're rising along with the overall market," he added.
The Nikkei, which began on Friday trade below its 2013 close, is now at its highest level since late 2007 thanks to the BoJ easing, which will see huge amounts of yen pumped into markets.
The rise for Sony stood out as it came despite the firm reporting after trade on Friday a whopping $1.0bn six-month loss. However, it did revise up its full-year sales guidance.
Sharp and Panasonic both said they were in the black in the April - September period.
