Tokyo stocks open higher on hopes for new government

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened higher on Tuesday as investors remained upbeat about a new government in Japan ahead of a ruling party leadership vote this month.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.42 percent, or 127.18 points, at 30,574.55 in early trade, while the broader Topix index advanced 0.39 percent, or 8.08 points, to 2,105.79.

"Japanese shares are supported by (expectations linked to) a change in politics," Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.

So far three candidates have announced they will run for leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, including Taro Kono, a former foreign and defence minister currently leading Japan's coronavirus vaccine rollout.

A report that another popular politician Shigeru Ishiba will support Kono, the frontrunner in public support, is boosting market sentiment, Okasan said.

"A combination of these two popular figures could lead to a landslide for the LDP in the general election" due later this year, the brokerage added.

Tokyo stocks open lower on profit-taking

The dollar fetched 109.98 yen in early Asian trade, against 110.01 yen in New York late Monday.

Phone carrier KDDI was up 2.93 percent at 3,834 yen after the firm said it will use SpaceX's Starlink satellite network to provide better mobile internet access in remote areas, and as a brokerage firm revised up its evaluation.

Nissan rallied 3.19 percent to 583.1 yen and its alliance partner Mitsubishi Motors gained 2.82 percent to 292 yen after a report said the two firms will share manufacturing parts for vehicles sold in Japan, in cost-cutting efforts.

Hitachi was up 0.86 percent at 6,692 yen after the engineering firm announced a goal to achieve carbon neutrality across its supply chain by fiscal 2050.

On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 0.8 percent at 34,869.63 and the broad-based S&P rose 0.2 percent, but the tech-rich Nasdaq slipped 0.1 percent.