Wii Drives Up Nintendo Share Prices

Japan's FISCO news service is reporting that analysts from Merrill Lynch have pushed Nintendo's share price higher on anticipation for its forthcoming Wii console. Lynch has raised the company's target share price to 27,000 yen from 23,000 yen. At press time, Nintendo was trading at 24,630 yen ($212.37) a share, following a six and a half year high on Friday, when it was up 72% year to date, and 102% over this time last year. With a full public announcement and unveiling on the Wii console predicted for the 14th of September in Japan, with more following worldwide. This, alongside ever increasing sales of DS software and hardware, should further bolster the company's outlook, as the company's stock price creeps up toward the record highs it enjoyed during the early 1990s, when its Super Nintendo sales drove stock to at 30,000 yen high. Nintendo's current market value is estimated at nearly 3.5 trillion Yen, an equivalent of roughly 30 billion dollars.