Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed Friday at its highest level in two years and nine months after rising nearly 3 per cent as the yen weakened and monetary easing was expected from the Bank of Japan, dpa reported. The Nikkei jumped 303.66 points, or 2.86 per cent, to 10,913.3. The broader-based Topix index was up 20.98 points, or 2.36 per cent, to close at 911.44. The Bank of Japan is to begin a two-day meeting Monday. The government and central bank plan to make a joint statement on fighting deflation, which has plagued the world's third-largest economy for a decade. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's new conservative government wants the Bank of Japan to set an inflation target of 2 per cent.
