Tokyo Stocks Open Higher, Tracking US Gains

AFP/APP

Tokyo: Tokyo stocks opened higher on Wednesday after Wall Street rose for a second straight session on good corporate earnings.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.04 percent, or 388.86 points, at 37,941.02 in early trade, while the broader Topix index added 0.60 percent, or 15.95 points, to 2,682.18.

“There seem to be few fresh factors to boost share prices in a strong way,” with investors cautious ahead of the Bank of Japan’s policy decision later this week, analyst Takuma Ikemoto of the Tokai Tokyo Research Institute said.

“Demand for individual shares with strong corporate earnings will likely grow,” he added.

The dollar fetched 154.78 yen in early Asian trade, against 154.83 yen late Tuesday in New York.

A possible currency market intervention by the Japanese authorities, who have already talked up the yen this week, is also troubling investors, analysts said.

Overnight, former US president Donald Trump raged about the exchange rate between the yen and the dollar, which recently hit a 34-year high against the Japanese currency.

“It sounds good to stupid people, but it is a disaster for our manufacturers and others,” he said on Truth Social.

In Tokyo, chip-linked shares were higher. Renesas Electronics jumped 9.07 percent to 2,488 yen, while Tokyo Electron was up 4.62 percent at 34,000 yen.

Nikon soared 9.82 percent to 1,717 yen after the UK-based Silchester International Investors took a stake of more than five percent in the company, according to a filing to Japan’s finance ministry.

Toyota was up 2.42 percent at 3,596 yen. Sony Group was up 2.60 percent at 12,820 yen.