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World equities rose on Friday after the G7 vowed to stem the yen's rise and help the Japanese economy, which has been shattered by a record earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis. The G7 rich nations, seeking to ease Japan's plight, said in a statement on Friday that they had agreed to "cooperate as appropriate" to address excessive and volatile movements in the foreign exchange market. Traders welcomed the decision which was made after key talks between authorities in Japan, the United States, the euro zone, Canada and Britain. In reaction, the yen weakened, having spiked earlier this week to the highest dollar level since World War II. The Tokyo stock market soared 2.72 percent after the G7 statement, as a weaker yen lifted exporters. However, the market was still more than 10 percent down over the week as investors fretted over the escalating nuclear crisis. Elsewhere, Sydney jumped 1.56 percent, Shanghai added 0.61 percent, Seoul ended 1.13 percent higher and Taipei gained 1.35 percent. Japan battled a nuclear and humanitarian crisis Friday, with engineers working to restore power to the stricken Fukushima power plant in what the UN's top atomic expert said was a "race against time." In European late morning deals, Frankfurt added 0.45 percent, London gained 0.39 percent and Paris increased by 0.82 percent. The European single currency hit a two-week high of 115.55 yen, a level last seen on March 4. It later stood at 115.01 in London deals. "The G7 have stepped up to the plate and their intervention in the foreign exchange markets to weaken the yen is dominating the action today," said Forex.com analyst Kathleen Brooks. "It looks as though global authorities are willing to pull out all the stops to defend the 80.00 level in dollar/yen." "The market has been cheered by the news that there is a coordinated effort to stem volatility and stocks and risky currencies are rallying." The yen soared to a post World War II high at 76.36 earlier in the week as traders grew nervous as Japanese crews battled to avert a nuclear meltdown after the Fukushima plant was rocked by last week's quake and tsunami. AFP |
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