Tokyo stocks open up on hopes for US-China trade ties

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened higher on Thursday as worries over a US-China trade war receded.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.65 percent, or 140.96 points, at 21,743.71 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.44 percent, or 7.04 points, at 1,613.65.

"The Japanese market is seen starting positively, following rallies in the US market on expectations of improvement in US-China ties," Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior market strategist at Monex, said in a commentary.

"Risk sentiment was buoyed... by a variety of comments, including (US) President (Donald) Trump himself indicating progress on trade talks," Ray Attrill, strategist at National Australia Bank, said in a note.

The dollar fetched 113.31 yen in early Asian trade, little changed from 113.22 yen in New York.

Hitachi was up 1.27 percent at 3,342 yen after a report it is moving to purchase the power grid business of Swiss engineering giant ABB for a deal worth as much as $7.05 billion.

Takeda Pharmaceutical jumped 5.59 percent to 3,926 yen after a brokerage firm revised up its estimate of the stock's value.

China-linked shares also gained, with Komatsu trading up 1.93 percent at 2,638.5 yen and electronic parts maker Rohm up 2.33 percent at 7,440 yen.

In New York, the Dow closed up 0.6 percent at 24,527.27 on Wednesday.