Japan stocks soar more than 3% on yen's fall, US gains

Japan stocks rose more than 3 per cent Friday for the second consecutive trading day of rise as market sentiment was bolstered by a weaker yen and overnight gains on Wall Street. The Nikkei gained 463.77 points, or 3.51 per cent, to end at13,677.32 while the broader-based Topix index was up 35.01 points, or 3.19 per cent, at 1,133.84. For the week, the Nikkei rose 3.38 per cent and the Topix was up3.13 per cent. Exporters traded broadly higher as the yen fell against majorcurrencies. A weaker yen makes Japanese goods less expensive abroad and improves repatriated revenues. The government said Japan's consumer prices were flat in May from a year earlier after falling for six straight months. The country has been plagued by deflation for more than a decade. The government also reported Japan's unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 per cent in May, while the country's industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 2.0 per cent in May from the previous month for the fourth consecutive month of increase.