Tokyo stocks end sharply higher

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks ended sharply higher on Wednesday after Wall Street rose for a second straight session on good corporate earnings.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 2.42 percent, or 907.92 points, to end at 38,460.08, while the broader Topix index added 1.67 percent, or 44.50 points, to 2,710.73.

The dollar fetched 154.87 yen, against 154.83 yen late Tuesday in New York.

Investors in Japan took heart from gains on Wall Street, where “vigilance against the Middle East situation and concerns over inflation waned”, IwaiCosmo Securities said.

Their sentiment was further buoyed by Tesla’s after-hours performance, the brokerage said.

Japan’s Nikkei rises but US earnings caution caps gains

Tesla reported a big drop in quarterly profits Tuesday amid an increasingly cut-throat electric vehicle market.

But shares rocketed more than 11 percent in after-hours trading after Tesla pledged to “accelerate” new, more affordable autos – something for which Wall Street analysts have been clamouring.

Among major shares in Tokyo, SoftBank Group added 3.15 percent to 7,755 yen, Sony Group climbed 2.76 percent to 12,840 yen and Toyota surged 3.04 percent to 3,618 yen.

Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing gained 2.13 percent to 43,080 yen.