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Tokyo stocks open higher, extending US rallies on Powell speech
TOKYO, Nov 29, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Tokyo stocks opened higher on Thursday,
extending rallies on Wall Street that toasted a speech by Federal Reserve
Chair Jerome Powell hinting at a slower pace of rate hikes.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which has closed higher for the past four
days, added 0.88 percent or 195.08 points to 22,372.10 in early trade while
the broader Topix index was up 0.85 percent or 14.06 points at 1,667.72.
“Japanese shares are seen rising, encouraged by rallies in US shares,”
Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior market analyst, said in a commentary.
“Investors will probably test the Nikkei index’s 22,500 level” that is
psychologically important, he added.
Powell, in remarks to the New York Economic Club, charted a middle ground,
saying rates were still historically low but only “just below” the estimate
of neutral — a rate that neither stimulates nor restrains the economy.
“This was a material change from his view in October when he noted that
‘we may go past neutral, but we’re a long way from neutral at this point,
probably,'” Rodrigo Catril, senior strategist at National Australia Bank,
said in a note.
“Powell’s remarks elicited a risk positive market reaction as they appear
to suggest a softening in his stance in terms of what might be the future
pace of policy tightening,” he said.
The dollar fetched 113.57 yen in early Asian trade, against 113.58 yen in
New York and 113.86 yen in Tokyo late Wednesday.
Turning to individual shares, Nintendo rallied 3.49 percent to 34,670 yen
after it said its US sales from Thanksgiving on Cyber Monday were more than
$250 million thanks to brisk sales of its Switch hardware.
Nissan was up 1.23 percent at 983.5 yen after two days of losses and ahead
of an expected three-way meeting that will discuss the future of Renault-
Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance.
Mitsubishi Motors was up 0.28 percent at 692 yen.
Maker of sensors and measuring instruments Keyence was up 1.36 percent at
62,600 yen while electronic parts maker Rohm was up 2.80 percent at 8,060
yen.
On Wall Street, the dow ended up 2.5 percent at 25,366.43.
BSS/AFP/HR/0925