*Nikkei up 3.3 percent on news of U.S. plan for credit crisis
*Financial shares soar
*Exporters gain sharply after dollar rises against yen
(Adds stocks and comments)
By Taiga Uranaka
TOKYO, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The Nikkei share average jumped
3.3 percent on Friday, boosted by news that the U.S. government
is considering a comprehensive solution to the financial crisis.
Financial shares such as top lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial
Group <8306.T> surged, as authorities in the United States and
other countries unveiled a series of measures to tame credit
troubles that have claimed victims such as Lehman Brothers
<LEHMQ.PK>.
Nomura Holdings Inc <8604.T>, Japan's largest brokerage,
climbed more than 7 percent, while exporters including Canon Inc
<7751.T> and Fanuc Ltd <6954.T> soared on a sharp gain for
dollar.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has been talking about
a proposal to Congress that would create an entity to deal with
bad debt similar to the Resolution Trust Corp, which was formed
in 1989 to fix the collapse of the savings and loan industry, a
congressional aide said on Thursday. []
"The real problems cannot be solved by just supplying
emergency loans. The matter has finally reached a phase of
disposing bad debt," said Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at
Tachibana Securities.
U.S. securities regulators are also considering a temporary
ban on short selling of some or all stocks, a source briefed on
the matter said on Thursday. []
The benchmark Nikkei average ended the morning up 378.90
points at 11,868.20. The broader Topix <> gained 3.9 percent
to 1,140.12.
The day's rally in a broad range of stocks helped the market
pare some of its losses in a tumultuous week, which saw a flurry
of dealmaking by overseas financial giants. It is still down 2.8
percent for the week.
The market's rough ride is, however, unlikely to be over
soon, with some questioning the effectiveness of an RTC-style
solution.
"It came too late. It would have been a lot easier a year
ago. But while the concept is great if it's really feasible, it
has many technical difficulties," said Masanobu Takahashi, chief
strategist at Ichiyoshi Securities.
BANKS JUMP
Mitsubishi UFJ jumped 9.8 percent to 849 yen and No. 2 Mizuho
Financial Group <8411.T> gained 9.6 percent to 435,000 yen.
Nomura climbed 7.1 percent to 1,275 yen. Regional lender Bank
of Yokohama <8332.T> soared 12.5 percent to 585 yen.
Digital camera maker Canon rose 8.6 percent to 4,280 yen, and
industrial robot maker Fanuc gained 11.8 percent to 8,220 yen,
the biggest contributor to the Nikkei.
The dollar climbed 0.8 percent to 106.25 yen <JPY=>.
But Chugai Pharmaceutical Co Ltd <4519.T> fell 3.4 percent to
1,602 yen after U.S. regulators delayed approval for its partner
Roche Holding AG's <ROG.VX> rheumatoid arthritis drug Actemra.
[]
Actemra, which is expected to be a billion-dollar seller, was
co-developed by Chugai.
Trade picked up on the Tokyo exchange's first section, with
1.2 billion shares changing hands, compared with last week's
morning average of 1 billion.
Advancing stocks beat declining ones by nearly 2 to 1.
(Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
