Tokyo Stocks End Higher

Tokyo stocks staged a rebound and closed sharply higher yesterday, as a government plan to rescue the ailing financial sector prompted a rally in banking shares, brokers said. But steep gains in the benchmark Nikkei average of 225 leading shares were partly trimmed back by the close on growing concern about the financial health of some Japanese trading houses, they said. The Nikkei 225 average finished up 375.12 points, or 2.51 per cent, at 15,300.10. It briefly rallied by more than five per cent to 15,729.57. March futures advanced 250 points to end at 15,300. A series of government decisions soothed worries in the market, which had been pretty suspicious of the governments ability to deal with the financial problems, said Tetsuya Ishijima, chief strategist at Okasan Securities Co Ltd. But we still have worries that stocks will head lower early next year due to expected worsening in supply-and-demand conditions, he said.