Tokyo stocks open higher on trade deal optimism

Tokyo, Nov 26 (AFP/APP): Tokyo stocks opened higher on Tuesday, extending rallies on Wall Street as revived hopes for US-China trade progress added to investor confidence.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.62 percent, or 144.02 points, at 23,436.82 in early trade, while the broader Topix index climbed 0.54 percent, or 9.14 points, to 1,712.10.

“Japanese shares are seen rising following rallies on Wall Street” that was boosted by reports that Beijing may compromise over intellectual property rights in the US-China trade talks, Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior market analyst at Monex, said in a note.

The IP issue is a major sticking point for the United States in the discussions and agreement on it is seen as key to their success.

US stocks jump to records on trade deal hopes, mergers

Global markets have rallied in recent weeks on expectations that Washington and Beijing will sign a mini pact as the first part of a wider trade deal, though dealers are growing edgy as the weeks stretch on with no firm commitments.

In Tokyo, major exporters ware higher, with Toyota gaining 0.89 percent to 7,798 yen, Nintendo trading up 1.34 percent at 42,860 yen and Sony higher by 1.81 percent at 6,835 yen.

Hitachi jumped 3.12 percent to 4,257 yen after a report said the firm had picked Showa Denko as the top suitor for selling its chemical unit. Showa Denko was down 4.82 percent at 2,933.

Toshiba was up 2.44 percent at 3,555 yen after a report that the firm has developed a machine for high-speed trading in financial markets.

On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 0.7 percent at 28,066.47, with all major US indices notching fresh records.