The Economic Information Agency reported on the 16th that Japanese stocks surged in morning trading, with the Nikkei 225 index closing the first half of the day at 65550, up 1124 points or 1.75%. The South Korean KOSPI index was newly reported at 5725, up 171 points or 3.09%.

The US dollar against the Japanese yen was newly quoted at 158.01/03.