TOKYO, Dec 27, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Tokyo stocks surged four percent at the
open on Thursday, with investors heartened by Wall Street’s best performance
in nine years.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index soared 4.0 percent or 773,59 points to
20,100.65 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 4.11 percent
or 58.78 points at 1,490.25.
“Thanks to the sharp rebound in US shares, it is increasingly possible
that Japanese stocks will end the year on a bullish note,” Okasan Online
Securities chief strategist Yoshihiro Ito said in a commentary.
Exporter shares rose strongly as a weaker yen improved their business
outlook.
The dollar was trading at 111.17 yen, down from 111.33 yen in New York but
up from 110.45 yen when Tokyo closed on Wednesday.
Wall Street stocks roared back to life in post-Christmas trade on
Wednesday, shaking off four straight routs following strong retail sales data
and White House reassurances that Fed Chair Jerome Powell won’t be fired.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up nearly 1,100 points, or about
five percent, with the broad-based S&P 500 also surging five percent.
The US gains were the biggest for a single session on Wall Street in nine
years, a surge analysts attributed in part to technical factors after days of
selling.
“It was possible that risk appetite wouldn’t recover until after the new
year but thanks to the upturns in Tokyo and New York, we are likely to see
the new year in with a somewhat brighter mood,” Mizuho Securities said in a
note.
Many investors have been unnerved by a variety of factors, including the
partial US government shutdown, the US-China trade war and Trump’s ongoing
criticism of Fed Chair Powell.
But a sense of relief won out for now.
Sentiment also improved after a Bloomberg News report said a US government
delegation will travel to Beijing in early January to hold trade talks in the
first face-to-face discussion since Trump and Xi Jinping agreed on a 90-day
truce.
Sony climbed 3.96 percent to 5,305 yen and Toyota added 3.43 percent to
6,357 yen.
Energy shares were also higher on rises in oil prices, with petroleum
explorer Inpex up 5.65 percent at 993.3 yen.