Stocks close up 2.23%

Tokyo stocks jumped 2.23% by the close Tuesday with the dollar’s rise against the yen boosting exporters’ shares as Japanese earnings season winds down.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 318.84 points to 14,588.68, while the Topix index of all first-section issues was up 1.67%, or 19.76 points, to 1,205.41.
The dollar rose to 99.59 yen from 99.20 yen in New York Monday as recent upbeat U.S. data sparked speculation that the Federal Reserve could start reeling in its aggressive stimulus program as soon as next month.
“Expectations, well-founded or not, that the Fed will opt for near-term tapering of its bond-purchase program are nudging the dollar speculatively higher,” an equity trading director at a foreign brokerage said.
A weaker yen is a plus for Japanese exporters as it makes them more competitive overseas and inflates repatriated foreign income.
Weak Japanese consumer sentiment figures did little to curtail the strong forex-led rally in Tokyo.
The government’s consumer confidence index for October fell the most since April 2011, a month after a Japan’s quake-tsunami disaster.
The reading came as the government gets set to hike sales taxes next year, a rise expected to weigh on consumer spending.