Japanese stocks took inspiration Wednesday morning from all-time highs set by the Dow Jones Industrial Average overnight, with blue-chips including Nintendo Co. and Toyota Motor rising sharply, while a fall in commodity prices hurt miners and oil producers.
The Nikkei 225 Index (JP:1804610: news, chart, profile) rose as much as 0.7% to 16,349.3. The broader Topix index gained as much as 0.5% to 1,625.2.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped as much as 0.3% as plunging oil and metal prices took a toll on energy and mining stocks. Woodside Petroleum (WOPEY :28.20, -0.85, -2.9% ) (AU:WPL: news, chart, profile) was off by 2.1% and BHP Billiton 37.28, -1.09, -2.8% ) (AU:BHP: news, chart, profile) fell 3%.
South Korean shares lost ground after North Korea announced Tuesday that it plans to test a nuclear weapon. Seoul's Kospi index lost as much as 0.3% in morning trading.
In Japan, Nintendo Co. (NTDOY :26.50, +0.55, +2.1% ) (JP:7974: news, chart, profile) shares gained as much as 4% after the company raised its earnings outlook late Tuesday afternoon, citing brisk sales of handheld game devices and software. See story.
Shares of Toyota Motor Co. (TM :111.03, +0.53, +0.5% ) (JP:7203: news, chart, profile) were up as much as 2.2% after it said
Tuesday that its September U.S. vehicle sales rose 25% from a year ago.
Crude oil for November delivery was down as much as 21 cents to $58.47 a barrel. It fell $2.35 to $58.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday, after reaching a low of $58.60. Those are levels the contract hasn't seen since late July 2005.
Gold for December delivery was up as much as 50 cents to $582. It closed down $21.80 at $581.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its weakest closing level since mid-June.
The Dow industrials ($INDU:11,727.34, +56.99, +0.5% ) ended up 56.99 points at 11,727.34, surpassing the previous record closing high of 11,722.98 on Jan. 14, 2000.
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