Tokyo stocks open higher

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened higher on Monday as investors took heart from Wall Street rallies on strong jobs data.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.01 percent, or 392.88 points, at 39,384.96 in early trade, while the broader Topix index added 0.68 percent, or 18.34 points, to 2,720.96.

“The Japanese market is expected to start with gains following rallies in US shares,” senior market analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama of Monex said.

Shutaro Yasuda of Tokai Tokyo Research Institute added that higher prices for “US chip-linked shares” were supporting the market.

The US economy added 303,000 jobs in March, beating analyst expectations in the latest sign of labour market strength.

This data indicates the US economy remains in rude health but investors are optimistic that the US Federal Reserve will keep interest rates flat at its June policy meeting.

On Wall Street on Friday, the Dow index gained 0.8 percent, the broad-based S&P 500 climbed 1.1 percent, and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.2 percent.

Tokyo shares close lower ahead of US data

The dollar fetched 151.68 yen in early Asian trade on Monday, against 151.61 yen in New York late Friday.

Some tech shares in Tokyo rose sharply, with Fujitsu trading up 5.54 percent at 2,516.5 yen and Renesas Electronics 3.76 percent higher at 2,798.5 yen.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries gained 1.92 percent to 1,354 yen.

Toyota was up 1.80 percent at 3,684 yen and Sony Group added 0.59 percent to 12,855 yen.