Japan's third-largest automaker said the new company, combining Nissan Credit Corp and two other Japanese affiliates, would provide other services including credit cards.

Nissan's shares ended up 3.44 per cent at 601 yen after touching an intraday high for the year at 612. They have been on a steady upward path since April, following a slide to around a low of 350 in February.

Just before an announcement of a three-year restructuring plan last October, it stood at around 700. Growing confidence that Nissan is on the right side of the road with its reforms has spurred buying, with foreign investors seen as key purchasers of the stock.

One Nissan source estimates that foreign ownership, including French automaker Renault SA's controlling minority 36.8 per cent stake, has jumped as high as 60 per cent.

Traders said, however, that some of the stock's recent gains were aided by retail investors who had gone short on it and were scrambling to buy back in. And some analysts warned that gains could be pared in the short term.