Tokyo stocks open higher extending US rallies

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened higher on Tuesday as investors took heart from rallies on Wall Street partly fuelled by vaccine hopes.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.70 percent or 191.98 points at 27,686.22 in early trade, while the broader Topix index edged up 0.75 percent or 14.28 points to 1,929.42.

"Japanese shares are likely to continue a positive streak as investors were relieved to see a new record on the (US) Nasdaq index" and strong economic indicators, Okasan Online Securities said in a note.

On Wall Street, stronger-than-expected home sales data as well as the full regulatory approval of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine boosted positive sentiment.

The dollar fetched 109.64 yen in early Asian trade, against 109.67 yen in New York.

In Tokyo, Sony rallied 4.18 percent to 11,460 yen while game giant Nintendo was up 1.33 percent at 53,260 yen.

Panasonic was up 1.52 percent at 1,269 yen after a report the Osaka-based company plans to move the headquarters of its mainstay business to Tokyo.

Shipping firms rallied, with Nippon Yusen gaining 4.72 percent to 7,980 yen and Kawasaki Kisen up 4.17 percent at 4,995 yen.

On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 0.6 percent at 35,335.71 and the broad-based S&P closed up 0.9 percent, while the tech-rich Nasdaq jumped 1.6 percent to a new record.