Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co., Japan's second- largest automaker, gained the most in six years after it raised its full-year profit forecast on a weaker yen and higher sales of fuel-efficient models. Shares of other automakers also rose.

The stock rose 330 yen, or 8.9 percent to close at 4,040 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Toyota Motor Corp. advanced 4.9 percent, the most in over three years. Nissan Motor Co. added 3.2 percent, and Daihatsu Motor Co. gained 5.7 percent.

Honda won customers from General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. in the U.S., where it earns about 70 percent of operating profit. The company raised its net income forecast 2.4 percent, helped by sales of Civic and Accord models.

``Honda had strong sales in the U.S.,'' said Masayuki Kubota, who oversees $2.1 billion in assets at Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. in Tokyo. ``The carmaker's earnings are spurring investor optimism that other automakers will also have better outlooks.''

The Japanese currency weakened 1.4 percent against the dollar in the fiscal second quarter from a year earlier, increasing the value of Honda's dollar-denominated sales.

Profit rose 63 percent to 208.5 billion yen ($1.83 billion) in the three months ended Sept. 30. That beat the 185.2 billion yen average of five analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales rose 13 percent to 2.97 trillion yen.

The outlook is ``conservative,'' Tatsuo Yoshida, an analyst at UBS Securities Japan Ltd., who has a ``buy'' rating on the stock, said in a note to clients today. ``The new Accord has gone faster than management had expected, and both the CR-V and Civic appear to be doing well.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Naoko Fujimura in Tokyo at nfujimura@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 26, 2007 03:52 EDT