2014.06.0301:24:07UTC+00Yen stumbles as Topix continues upward run

The Toyko Price Index, popularly called the Topix, has been on a recent tear in the last couple of weeks leading up to today. Currently, the Tokyo stock exchange index looks to make Tuesday the ninth straight day that its value goes up at each closing and, so far, it looks set to do just that. As of the midday break in Tokyo, it has risen another 0.7% in value reaching 1,228.99 inching closer to the possibility of closing at its highest level in more than 2 months.

The biggest winner among the corporations listed under the Topix was Nomura Holdings Inc, a Tokyo-based financial firm, who experienced a 1% rise. Nomura Holdings is part of the the sector filled by brokerage firms which had the best performance among the other 32 industry groups included in the index.

Nomura Holdings also contributed to the 4.1% increase of Seibu Holdings, a transportation and lodging provider, after commenting that Seibu was redeveloping a property in central Tokyo as a new train station.

The world’s largest car maker, Toyota Motor Corp. also has had a positive day so far seeing their value climb by 0.8%. The materials and paper products producer, Daio Paper Corp, had one of the day’s steepest drops as their announcement of a sale of shares caused a 6.4% decline.

Meanwhile, the yen maintained the lowest rate it earned against the US dollar in more than 2 months after falling 0.6 yesterday to $102.36.

Japan’s other widely used index, the Nikkei 225, rose as well to 15,049.83 reflecting an improvement of 0.8%.

The Topix had an amazing year in 2013 registering an annual growth of 51%, the world’s best, due to the Japanese government’s easement of monetary policy and increased government spending. 2014 has been starkly different, however, with the Topix shedding off 6.3% annually so far due to anxiety that further measures are needed to boost the economy.