Japanese stocks fall 42% in miserable year

The most miserable 12 months for Japanese stocks finally come to an end, closing with a modest climb that did little to mollify the year’s historic haemorrhaging.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average added 112.39 points, or 1.28%, to close at 8,859.56 today in a shortened half-day session. The broader Topix index gained 0.52% to 859.24.