TOKYO, Feb 12, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Tokyo stocks opened higher on Tuesday
helped by a cheaper yen and expectations for progress in US-China trade
talks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.63 percent, or 127.29 points, to
20,460.46 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.50 percent,
or 7.65 points, at 1,547.05.
“Japanese stocks are seen rising at the start due to a cheaper yen against
the dollar and after a sharp drop late last week,” Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior
market strategist at Monex, said in a note.
The rally came after Tokyo shares closed down more than two percent on
Friday.
The Japanese market was closed on Monday for a public holiday.
The higher open came after global stocks mostly rose on Monday as US and
Chinese officials in Beijing started preparatory trade meetings that may
culminate in a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader
Xi Jinping.
The dollar changed hands at 110.48 yen in early Asian trade, up from 110.37
yen in New York late Monday and 109.68 yen in Tokyo Friday.
“On Sino-US trade, the one positive development… was that Presidents
Trump and Xi could meet in Trump’s Florida resort of Mar a Lago in mid-
March,” Ray Attrill, strategist at National Australia Bank, said in a
commentary.
In Tokyo, exporters were generally higher, with Toyota gaining 0.96 percent
to 6,511 yen, Nissan advancing 1.43 percent to 927.4 yen, Honda adding 1.00
percent at 2,956 yen and Panasonic up 1.09 percent at 1,013 yen.
Toshiba dropped 6.03 percent to 3,190 yen after it said it would revise
down its full-year operating profit forecast in its third-quarter earnings
report due on Wednesday.
SoftBank Group was down 0.14 percent at 10,000 yen after an announcement
that its SoftBank Vision Fund will invest nearly a billion dollars in Silicon
Valley startup Nuro, which is working on self-driving delivery vehicles.
On Wall Street, US stocks finished mixed with the Dow ending down 0.2
percent at 25,053.11 while the broad-based S&P 500 edged up 0.1 percent and
the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index also added 0.1 percent.