Around the World's Markets: Tokyo

HOPES FOR a dramatic restructuring of the electronics giants drove up their shares, feeding through to rise in the Japanese stock market.

But the Nikkei 225 fell short of the psychological barrier of 18,000 and closed at 17,909.29, up 198.27 points or 1.12 per cent.

Shares in NEC Corp briefly hit a high for this year before closing 4.17 per cent higher. "Hopes that restructuring will boost electronics shares were triggered by the news on NEC," said one dealer.