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March 15, 2011 at 06:11 PM
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese shares rebounded sharply on Wednesday, recovering some of the massive losses sustained the last two days following a devastating earthquake and tsunami.
The Nikkei rose 547.86 points, or 6.4%, to 9,153.01. The index closed at its lowest level in almost two years Tuesday after shedding more than 1,600 points, or 16%, in two days.
The plunge prompted Tokyo Stock Exchange President Atsushi Saito to release a statement late Tuesday urging for calm. He noted that the foreign media remained impressed by the potential power of the Japanese economy, and that foreign investors were net buyers the last two days.
"I also believe that Japan's experience, knowledge and technologies in the area of recovering from earthquakes should not be underestimated and that the stock market will calm down soon," Saito said.
Meanwhile, the central bank pumped money into financial markets for a third day.
The Bank of Japan injected 3.5 trillion yen ($43 billion), following injections totaling 23 trillion yen ($283 billion) over the past two days.
Among the day's major gainers were Japan's big exporters. Toyota Motor Corp. rose 8.7%, and Sony Corp. shot up more than 10%.
