Japanese stocks up 1.99 percent at the end of morning trading

(23 Mar 2009) 1. Wide of Tokyo Stock Exchange 2. Various of traders 3. Wide of stock exchange 4. Wide of electronic stock board 5. Various of stock board showing Nikkei up 158.52 points 6. Close of graph 7. Wide of stock board 8. Wide of stock exchange lobby STORYLINE: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index rose 158.52 points, or 1.99 percent, at the end of morning trade on Monday. Japan's economy has been battered by the plunge in exports that continues unabated since the US financial crisis hit last year. The International Monetary Fund is expecting the Japanese economy to contract 5.8 percent for the 2009 calendar year. On Sunday, Japan's finance minister said aggressive public spending would be needed on a scale of possibly 208 (b) billion US dollars to wrest the economy out of the painful recession. The Japanese government has said the economy contracted at an annual pace of 12.1 percent for the October-December quarter. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...