Tokyo Small Stocks' Longest Run Since '75

Small Tokyo-listed companies have capped the longest streak of daily advances in almost 37 years. Japan's TSE Second Section Price Index (TSE2), a capitalization- weighted index of smaller companies listed at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, added 0.2 percent to 2,308.56 at the 3 p.m. close today, rising for a 26th consecutive day. That's the longest streak since May 13, 1975, said Takamichi Sugawara, an assistant manager in the information service division of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Even after rising for 26 days, shares on the index trade at an average of 0.68 times book value, compared with 1 times for the Topix Index, Japan's broadest gauge, and 1.24 times for the Nikkei 225 Stock Average. A number less than one means that companies can be bought for less than value of their assets. (Bloomberg)