Japan has a new hero in the diminutive form of 13-year-old gold medal-winning skateboarder Momiji Nishiya. Investors are betting that’s good news for stocks connected to a sport that has considerable room to grow in the country.
Shares in Morito Co., which distributes skateboarding gear, surged 12% Monday after Nishiya’s victory in the Olympic women’s street skateboarding event. Another Japanese athlete, Funa Nakayama, won bronze in the same event, while on Sunday 22-year-old Yuto Horigome took gold for Japan in the men’s skateboarding event.
Other stocks also climbed as investors and retail traders scrambled for names they thought could benefit from the wins. Mixi Inc., whose unit sponsors Horigome, rose the most in seven weeks, while TSI Holdings Co., which owns a U.S. skateboarding e-commerce site, saw a 3.2% increase.
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