Tokyo stocks open higher with eyes on US jobs data

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened higher on Friday, extending rallies on Wall Street with investor focus shifting to key US jobs data due later in the day.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.21 percent or 354.79 points at 29,743.66 in early trade, while the broader Topix index gained 1.03 percent or 20.10 points to 1,977.74.

"Japanese shares are seen rallying supported by gains in US shares," said Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior analyst at Monex.

"The focus will be on whether the Nikkei index will keep rising ahead of US jobs data this evening, as a wait-and-see attitude will likely grow," he added. The dollar fetched 110.52 yen in early Asian trade, against 110.62 yen in New York late Thursday.

In Tokyo, some exporters were higher, with Sony jumping 4.21 percent to 12,140 yen and Toyota trading up 1.59 percent at 8,557 yen.

Mizuho Financial was down 0.34 percent at 1,589.5 yen after a report said the bank may have lost around $90 million in the Archegos stocks sale saga that has hit financial institutions worldwide.

A fire sale late last month by Archegos Capital Management, which looks after the fortune of businessman Bill Hwang, has left global banks from Japan's Nomura to Switzerland's Credit Suisse counting losses.

Mizuho's reported losses are far smaller than those incurred by some institutions, with Nomura warning of up to $2 billion in exposure.

On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 0.5 percent at 33,153.21.