Tokyo stocks hit 7 month high

Tokyo stocks rose Tuesday with the key index logging a seven-month closing high despite Elpida Memory Inc.'s bankruptcy on the previous day. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) gained 88.59 points, or 0.92 percent, from Monday to 9,722.52, the highest close since August second. The broader Tokyo Stock Price Index, which includes all First Section issues on the TSE, advanced 3.23 points, or 0.39 percent, to 838.48. The market opened lower in the morning as news of Elpida Memory Inc.'s bankruptcy on Monday dampened investor sentiment. But index edged up in the afternoon on the yen's depreciation against the US dollar. Elpida, Japan's sole remaining maker of DRAM chips, filed for bankruptcy protection in the largest corporate failure among Japanese manufacturers since the end of World War II. At 5:10 p.m. (0810 GMT), the US dollar traded at JPY 80.68-70 against JPY 80.55-65 in New York and JPY 81.10-11 in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Monday.