Japan Stocks Rise for Third Day on Greek Vote, Nuclear Restart Prospects

Japanese stocks rose for a third day after Greece passed austerity measures needed to secure aid from the European Union, and as utilities advanced on expectations they’ll be allowed to restart nuclear plants.

Sony Corp. (6758), which sells 20 percent of its PlayStation game consoles and other products in Europe, gained 3 percent.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 0.2 percent to 9,816.09 at the 3 p.m. close in Tokyo. The broader Topix index added 0.6 percent to 849.22 with three stocks rising for each that fell. For the month, both the Nikkei and the Topix rose 1.3 percent, their biggest monthly gains since February.

The value of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s first section totaled 1.32 trillion yen ($16.4 billion), 9.6 percent less than this year’s average of 1.46 trillion yen.

The Topix slid 8.8 percent since March 10, the day before a magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan’s northeast coast, triggering the worst nuclear accident in 25 years and leaving more than 23,000 people dead or missing.

Japanese shares had also weakened on signs the U.S. economic recovery is slowing and amid the Greek debt crisis, which the International Monetary Fund said might “spill over,” hurting banks that hold the country’s bonds. (Bloomberg)