Nikkei rises to one week high on Putin comments

Fears over war in eastern Europe have been eased in the last two days.


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By :  ,  Financial Analyst

The Nikkei has continued its recovery during today's (March 5th) trading session, rising to a new one-week high following the latest developments in Russia and Ukraine.

Fears that war between the two nations was inevitable have been eased on the back of new comments made by the Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

After Russian forces moved into the Crimea region of Ukraine there were concerns this could spark a civil war in Ukraine, but this has not yet been the case.

Mr Putin held a one-hour press conference yesterday, in which he revealed he will be keeping the option of using military force in Ukraine open, but will only use it as a "last resort".

The markets were calmed by the comments made by the Russian president and the Nikkei rose to a new one-week high by adding 1.2 per cent to its value today to end the session at 14,897.63.

Recovery

This was its highest closing level since February 27th and could be a sign the Japanese index has put the Ukraine and Russia conflict behind it, after the index broke a four-day losing streak during yesterday's trading by gaining 0.5 per cent, reports Reuters.

It was also a good day for the broader Topix index, which added 0.7 per cent to its overall value in today's session to follow on from the 0.6 per cent gain it recorded yesterday.

The JPX-Nikkei Index 400 completed a second day in a row of clean sweeps for the main Japanese markets, as it rose by 0.8 per cent to end the day at 10,981.32. The index was set up for firms with high return on equity and strong corporate governance.

Despite the recovery seen on the Nikkei in the last two days, 2014 has still been a struggle for the index overall, with the market down by about ten per cent since the start of the year. This follows a hugely successful 2013 for the Nikkei, which added more than 50 per cent to its overall value, comfortably outperforming major global rivals such as London's FTSE 100 and the Dow Jones in the US.

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