Tokyo stocks open higher after rout

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened higher on Monday following a mixed close on Wall Street as US bond yields retreated, after the key Nikkei index tumbled four percent in the previous session.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.53 percent or 442.80 points at 29,408.81 in early trade, while the broader Topix index gained 1.26 percent or 23.49 points to 1,887.98.

"Japanese shares are seen rebounding after a sharp drop last week, as US high-tech shares rebounded," senior market strategist Toshiyuki Kanayama of Monex said in a commentary.

The dollar fetched 106.43 yen in early Asian trade, against 106.55 yen in New York late Friday.

In Tokyo, SoftBank Group rallied 3.99 percent to 10,290 yen after it said it has reached a settlement with WeWork's special committee and the company's co-founder and former chief executive, Adam Neumann, putting to rest a legal battle dating back to 2019 with a $1.6 billion payment.

Mizuho Financial Group was up 0.80 percent at 1,571.5 yen after the banking group said it had restored its ATM and online services.

Among other major shares, Honda was up 2.99 percent at 2,998.5 yen and Sony was up 1.98 percent at 11,340 yen.

On Wall Street, the tech-rich Nasdaq index ended up 0.6 percent, recovering some of the prior session's losses, as US Treasury yields retreated and markets anticipated progress in Congress on President Joe Biden's economic relief package.

The Dow finished down 1.5 percent at 30,932.37 and the S&P ended down 0.5 percent.