TOKYO, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks rose sharply on Monday, with the key Nikkei stock index climbing back above the psychologically important 9,000 line as Japan's central bank decided to take additional monetary easing steps to combat the yen 's rise and comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke pledging to safeguard the U.S. recovery also lifted investor sentiment.
Some brokers noted however that the moves by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) were considered lackluster and the only reason for today's market spike was due to the fact that the market had factored in a more proactive steps by the central bank and hence the yen retreated accordingly.
The Nikkei jumped more than 3.0 percent in early trade as news broke the BOJ planned to convene an extraordinary policy board meeting with members expected to consider in depth the burning issue of implementing further monetary easing measures in the face of a strong yen.
Japan's rising currency has been playing havoc on Japan's export-led recovery and has caused the stock markets to retreat below the key 9,000 psychological line recently as the currency hit 15-year highs against the U.S. Dollar.
The meeting came at a time when the government is widely expected to announce an outline of a new stimulus package possibly as early as Tuesday in a bid to parry the yen's rise.
The central bank said in the statement the policy meeting was to "discuss monetary control matters based on recent economic and financial developments."
