TOKYO, April 11, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Tokyo stocks opened flat Wednesday, taking a breather after rises the previous day as a conciliatory speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping eased fears of a trade war with the United States.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.10 percent or 22.06 points to 21,816.38 while the broader Topix index was up 0.10 percent or 1.81 points at 1,733.75.
“Rises on Wall Street did not trigger fresh buying today as Japanese stocks already rose before US stocks” following the speech at an Asian forum, said Makoto Sengoku, market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute.
But investor sentiment remains strong nonetheless.
“The mood isn’t in top gear but is still positive,” Sengoku told AFP.
The dollar was at 107.08 yen against 107.19 yen in New York Tuesday afternoon.
Stock markets across the world jumped higher Tuesday following a Xi speech that reassured investors a trade war with the United States could be avoided.
In Wednesday’s trade in Tokyo, SoftBank Group jumped 4.77 percent to 8,082 yen after the Wall Street Journal reported that US carriers in the group — Sprint and T-Mobile — have rekindled merger talks.
Toyota rose 0.61 percent to 6,880 yen and shipping firm Nippon Yusen climbed 2.25 percent to 2,174 yen.