Nikkei at 15 month high

Japan's Nikkei stock average touched a 15-month high on Tuesday, lifted by broad-based buying after confidence in the global economy rose on a US report showing the manufacturing sector expanded for a fifth straight month. 'The global economy is definitely over the worst, and now everyone's waiting to verify if it's really on a steady recovery path or not,' said Hiroaki Osakabe, a fund manager at Chibagin Asset Management.