Toyota up near 5 percent after U.S. safety probe

Toyota Motor signboards are displayed at a dealer's shop in Yokohama, south of Tokyo February 9, 2011.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp's shares jumped nearly 5 percent on Wednesday after a U.S. government probe cleared its electronics of causing unintended acceleration, and after the automaker raised its annual outlook above market expectations.

The findings by the U.S. government panel vindicated Toyota's position that it had identified and fixed the only known safety problems with popular vehicles like the Camry.

"Toyota still has a challenge competing against its rivals in emerging markets, but there are hopes that it can regain its market share in the U.S. market," said Mitsushige Akino, a fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management.

He added that Toyota's lifting of its annual outlook was another source of relief for investors.

Toyota reported a 48 percent drop in quarterly profits on Tuesday, highlighting its exposure to a firm yen, but raised its full-year outlook beyond market forecasts on stronger sales projections and cost cuts.

Toyota, which stayed ahead of General Motors Co as the world's biggest automaker by a thinner margin last year, lifted its operating profit forecast for the year to 550 billion yen ($6.7 billion) from 380 billion yen, well above the 489 billion yen consensus in a survey of 23 analysts.

Further rises in the stock price will likely depend on foreign exchange rates, Akino said.

"If the dollar trades above 84 yen in the near term, the share price may trade above 4,000 yen," he said.

The yen was trading at about 82.2 yen to the dollar on Wednesday.

Toyota climbed 4.7 percent to 3,655 yen, the most actively traded stock on the main board and the biggest percentage gainer among Nikkei 225 components. The Nikkei average was up 0.4 percent.

(Reporting by Ayai Tomisawa and Isabel Reynolds; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)