Nintendo shares jump 56.65 percent as Pokemon Go fever spreads

Shares of Japanese videogame giant Nintendo recorded a huge jump of 56.65 percent in the Tokyo Stock Exchange between Thursday last week and Tuesday, following the success of its recently released smartphone game, Pokemon Go.

Stocks of the Kyotobased company rose 12.73 percent Tuesday at the Tokyo Exchange, going up to nearly $221, one of its record highs this year.

On Monday, Nintendo shares shot up 25 percent, in what was its highest intraday gain since 1983, when the company was first listed on the Tokyo Exchange.

In the past two days, around 10.4 million shares of the company have been traded, while their market value has touched $31.3 billion.

Nintendo’s stock surge began Thursday after the launch of its first smartphone game from the Pokemon franchise, which invites users to hunt for the popular fantastical creatures in realworld locations using their phone camera.

Since the game developed by Niantic Inc. and distributed by Nintendo was launched in Australia, New Zealand and the United States, it has topped lists of downloads across different platforms in the three countries.

Investors have been enthusiastic about the success of Pokemon Go the first for Nintendo since its highlyanticipated entry into the mobile gaming sector this year amid expectations the corporation will soon launch new games featuring other franchises that made it popular, such as Mario and Zelda.