Tokyo stocks open higher on cheap yen, trade optimism

0
82

Tokyo, Oct 29 (AFP/APP): Tokyo stocks opened higher on Tuesday tracking rallies on Wall Street, supported by optimism about US-China trade talks and a cheaper yen against the dollar.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.48 percent or 109.60 points at 22,976.87 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.58 percent or 9.58 points at 1,658.01.

US President Donald Trump on Monday repeated his confidence that Washington and Beijing are moving towards a partial “phase one” trade deal, which he expects to sign on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Santiago in mid-November.

“We’re looking probably to be ahead of schedule to sign very big portion of the China deal, and we will call it phase one,” Trump told reporters.

The comments sent US shares higher with a risk-on sentiment prompting the dollar to edge up against the yen.

US stocks flirt with records on China trade progress

In Asia, the dollar fetched 108.96 yen against 108.95 yen in New York.

“Japanese shares are rising at the start helped by rallies in the US market and a cheaper yen,” Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior market analyst at Okasan Online Securities, said in a commentary.

Among major shares in Tokyo, automakers were higher, with Toyota edging up 0.26 percent to 7,503 yen, Nissan trading up 1.58 percent at 691.4 yen and Honda up 0.69 percent at 2,970.5 yen.

Sony was up 0.92 percent at 6,429 yen and Panasonic was up 0.26 percent at 915.3 yen.

ANA Holdings was down 1.75 percent at 3,649 yen after the leading business daily Nikkei reported its operating profit for the first half to September likely dropped by about 20 percent on-year.

Its rival Japan Airlines was down 0.50 percent at 3,335 yen.

Tokyo stocks open higher on cheap yen

On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 0.5 percent at 27.090.72.

 

Leave a reply