Reports are showing / rising consumer spending in Japan and South Korea have helped / fuel , / on Friday, / with Japan's benchmark stock index closing at nearly a five-and-a-half-year high. / Steve Herman has this report. "Japan's benchmark Nikkei Stock Index racked up / its biggest one-day percentage gain / . / It surged nearly 570 points, / a 3.6 percent jump. / That put the index at its highest close / since early September of 2000. / The Nikkei gained nearly 5 percent for the week, / in the process winning back all of last week's heavy losses / caused by the criminal investigation / of the once high-flying Internet enterprise, Livedoor. / Also propelling Friday's gains were the yen's fall against the U.S. dollar / and demand for financial and other issues / related to . / Earlier in the day, / the Japanese government issued a report / showing consumer prices rising for a second straight month in December. / Analysts say / that is a sign / rising spending is helping the country / overcome seven years of deflation." ((C) VOA News January 27, 2006)