Tokyo stocks open higher on sound business survey

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened higher on Monday after the Bank of Japan's key business confidence survey showed improvement for the second straight quarter.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.34 percent or 90.45 points at 26,742.97 in early trade, while the broader Topix index edged up 0.43 percent or 7.62 points to 1,789.63.

The Bank of Japan's December Tankan business survey -- a quarterly poll of about 10,000 companies -- showed a reading of minus 10 among big manufacturers, after recording minus 27 in the previous survey and minus 34 in the June survey.

The latest figure, released 10 minutes before the opening bell, beat the market consensus of minus 15.

"Investors were encouraged by the BoJ Tankan improving for the second straight quarter," senior strategist Yoshihiro Ito of Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.

Analysts however warned that trade in the day could lack a clear sense of direction following a mixed close on Wall Street.

The dollar fetched 103.95 yen in early Asian trade, against 104.01 yen in New York late Friday.

Wall Street stocks finished mostly lower Friday on disappointment over the lack of progress on a US stimulus bill.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2 percent at 30,046.37, while the broad-based S&P 500 declined 0.1 percent and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.3 percent.

Among major shares in Tokyo, Toyota was up 0.63 percent at 7,869 yen, engineering giant Hitachi was up 1.21 percent at 4,196 yen, and game company Nintendo was up 1.33 percent at 61,140 yen.

But airlines were lower with Japan Airlines trading down 0.40 percent at 1,992 yen and ANA Holdings down 0.97 percent at 2495.5 yen, in the wake of the record numbers of Covid-19 cases reported in Japan over recent weeks.