BCN-06 Tokyo stocks open higher following Wall Street advance

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ZCZC

BCN-06

STOCKS-MARKETS-JAPAN-OPEN

Tokyo stocks open higher following Wall Street advance

TOKYO, Aug 27, 2018 (BSS/) – Tokyo stocks opened higher Monday following
gains on Wall Street last week as the US Federal Reserve chief signalled the
central bank did not expect to accelerate interest rate increases.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.41 percent or 92.76 points to
22,694.53 in early trade while the broader Topix index was up 0.37 percent or
6.31 points at 1,715.51.

“Market players responded positively now that the (US) stance on monetary
policy has been made clear,” Okasan Online Securities chief starategist
Yoshihiro Ito said in a commentary.

Speaking at the annual gathering of global central bankers in Jackson
Hole, Wyoming, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday said there was
no sign of an overheating economy and policymakers expected to continue
interest rate increases gradually.

Prices were rising at about the Fed’s target pace of two percent, he said,
signalling the US central bank does not expect to accelerate interest rate
increases as some investors have feared.

All three major US indices pushed higher, with the S&P 500 notching its
first closing record since January and the Nasdaq jumping 0.9 percent to
smash past a record set last month.

On Monday the dollar crawled back to 111.30 yen from 111.21 yen in New
York Friday afternoon.

In individual stocks trade, Toyota climbed 1.39 percent to 6,925 yen after
a weekend report by the Nikkei newspaper that the auto giant was planning to
build a new factory in China.

Nintendo rose 0.76 percent to 38,160 yen and IT investor SoftBank Group
gained 1.38 percent to 10,240 yen.

BSS/AFP/HR/0935