Japanese stocks ends higher Wednesday

Tokyo stocks continued higher Wednesday, with the Nikkei Stock Average finishing the day at 8,459.98, up 123.50 points, or 1.48%. The benchmark index surpassed 8,400 for the first time in three days. Stronger-than-expected economic data released in the US and Germany eased concerns about the global economic outlook. Investors bought a broad range of Japanese issues following a sharp rebound on Wall Street overnight, with construction machinery makers, marine shippers and other cyclical issues making significant advances. However, stocks lost steam early due to fewer market participants and a lack of domestic incentives. The gap between the day’s high and low for the Nikkei average was just 30.22 points, the narrowest margin since the 25.10 points logged on Feb. 8. Trading value on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange totaled about 765.4 billion yen on a preliminary basis, falling under 1 trillion yen for the eighth straight trading day.