Tokyo stocks open higher on US rallies

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened higher Thursday, extending US rallies on hopes of new stimulus after President Joe Biden took office, with traders awaiting a Bank of Japan policy decision.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.86 percent, or 246.13 points, to 28,769.39 in early trade, while the broader Topix index advanced 0.68 percent, or 12.57 points, to 1,862.15.

"Japanese shares are seen supported by US rallies, with focus now on the Bank of Japan's policy decision" due later in the day, Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior market analyst at Monex, said in a note.

The dollar fetched 103.50 yen in early Asian trade, against 103.53 yen in New York.

"Vaccine news remains very encouraging with Israel reporting it has now given a first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to 24 percent of its population, and six percent of the population have received their second and final dose," National Australia Bank's analyst Tapas Strickland added.

"Encouragingly Pfizer/BioNTech also released a study that suggests their vaccine is as effective against the UK variant," though it was a microstudy of 16 people, he added.

Wall Street hit new records and stock markets across the globe climbed after Biden took office on Wednesday, with traders joyful over his plan to inject even more stimulus into the world's largest economy.

The Dow and S&P 500 posted all-time highs, but none gained more than the Nasdaq, which climbed 2.0 percent to a new record thanks in part to Netflix, which saw its share price surge after strong quarterly earnings.

In Tokyo, high-tech and IT shares were higher, with Panasonic rallying 3.66 percent to 1,386.5 yen, Fujitsu trading up 1.91 percent at 16,255 yen, and Olympus up 2.41 percent at 2,057 yen.

Japan's trade surplus in December stood at 751 billion yen ($7.3 billion) market expectations of 719.2 billion yen, according to data released 10 minutes before the opening bell.

For the year 2020, the country's trade account booked a surplus of 674.7 billion yen, after two years of trade deficit.