Tokyo shares open higher following Wall Street gains

TOKYO: Tokyo shares opened higher Monday, as investors cheered last week's gains on Wall Street.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.89 percent, or 257.98 points, to 29,199.50. The broader Topix index firmed 0.20 percent, or 3.92 points, to 1,963.11.

"Japan's Nikkei was the big underperformer last week, but the solid lead from the US suggests Japan is likely to enjoy a positive start to the new week," said Rodrigo Catril, senior FX market strategist at National Australia Bank.

"Tokyo shares are seen testing upper resistance on the back of rebounding US stocks," Okasan Online Securities also said in a note.

"The sharp rise of the Nasdaq index last week should encourage buying of major exporter shares," Okasan said.

But the relatively slow progress of national vaccination efforts in Japan as well as the state of emergency in place in key economic hubs including Tokyo continue to weigh on the Nikkei index, Rakuten Securities said.

The brokerage added that close attention is needed for possible overheating of the US economy, but investors should continue to pick up Japanese shares, especially issues that react sensitively to economic indicators, and undervalued shares.

The dollar stood at 109.53 yen, almost flat from 109.51 yen in New York on Friday.

Among major shares, Nintendo rose 1.61 percent to 68,850 yen. Tech investor SoftBank Group rose 1.02 percent to 8,185 yen. Tokyo Electron, which makes tools to build semiconductors, surged 1.71 percent to 49,280 yen.

Leading shipping firm Nihon Yusen added 1.86 percent to 4,935 yen.

But Toyota fell 0.46 percent to 9,903 yen. Sony Group dipped 0.37 percent to 10,880 yen.