ASIA MARKETS: Japan Stocks Hit Multi-year Highs, Leading Asia

By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks on Monday jumped to their highest level in more than five years, boosted by an improved profit outlook and further yen weakness after the Group of Seven major economies refrained from criticizing Tokyo's easing policies.

Australian and South Korean stocks, meanwhile, wavered in choppy trade amid caution ahead of the release of China's monthly industrial-production and retail-sales data.

"The release of statistics this afternoon covering China's industrial production and retail sales for April has the potential to move world equity and commodity markets. Indications of moderating growth in China have been a key factor for markets in recent months," said CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average climbed 1.5% to 14,821.08 -- rising to levels it hadn't seen since January 2008 -- after having spiked 6.7% last week. The broader Topix index gained 1.7%.

South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.1%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2%, after each index changed direction a few times.

The gains in Tokyo came after leaders at a G-7 meeting offered no criticism of Japan's monetary policies that have helped weaken the yen sharply in recent months. On Monday, the U.S. dollar (USDJPY) was trading close to the Yen102 level, further boosting shares of Japanese exporters.

Hopes for strong earnings also provided a tailwind, after the Nikkei newspaper reported over the weekend that listed non-financial companies were on track to post a 20% growth in pretax profits for the current financial year ending March 31, 2014.

Shares of Panasonic Corp. (PCRFY) climbed 9.8%, and Nissan Motor Co. (NSANY) rose 5.5% after each issued strong annual profit forecasts.

Sharp Corp. (SHCAY) surged 15.1% after the Nikkei newspaper reported it planned to downsize its European operations.

In Sydney, meanwhile, the resource sector weakened amid U.S. dollar strength, with gold miners also suffering from a more-than-2% drop in gold futures on Friday.

Gold miners Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCMGY) and Perseus Mining Ltd. shed 3.2% and 5.6%, respectively.

Among the larger diversified miners, BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) was off 0.8%, and Rio Tinto Ltd. (RIO) gave up 1.4%.

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