Japan stock market week to Aug 11, 2008

Tokyo staged a rally in the week ended August 11, following seesaw movements. The Nikkei 225 rose 3.8%, recovering the critical 13,000 level at the close, while the Topix index was up 2.6%. The review week's first four sessions saw rather directionless developments because of a lack of new incentives and trading ideas. Investors were discouraged by the government's presentation of a bearish forecast for Japan's capital spending, projecting a 3.0% drop quarter-on-quarter in machinery orders in the July-September period. However, the market rebounded on the last trading day aided by the yen's depreciation against the US dollar, prompting players to purchase export-oriented issues. The pharmaceutical index was up 1.1%, underperforming the market.