Japanese Stocks Advance as Weaker Yen Buoys Exporters Before BOJ

---

Japanese stocks rose for a second day as a weaker yen buoyed exporters and investors await a Bank of Japan monetary policy decision.

The Topix index climbed 0.5 percent to 1,587.04 as of 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo, with all but two of its 33 industry groups rising. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.5 percent to 19,730.45. The yen traded at 120.29 per dollar after weakening the past two days.

All 34 economists in a Bloomberg poll predict the BOJ will maintain record stimulus on Wednesday. Investors also are awaiting Federal Reserve minutes for clues on when U.S. interest rates will increase.

The BOJ remains far from achieving its inflation target, with its preferred consumer price gauge flat in February from a year earlier. At the January meeting, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda extended by a year to March 2016 .

Source : Bloomberg