Tokyo shares climb despite US falls

TOKYO: Tokyo shares rose in morning trade on Tuesday despite Wall Street stocks finishing mostly lower on weak Chinese economic data.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index opened in negative territory but soon climbed 0.20 percent, or 51.97 points, to 26,599.02, while the broader Topix index added 0.26 percent, or 4.90 points, to 1,868.16.

“The market is expected to fluctuate today. Shares are likely to be bought thanks to affordability but also likely to be sold on the back of the fall in US tech stocks,” Mizuho Securities said in a note.

Tokyo shares open higher after US gains

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a 0.1 percent gain while the tech-rich Nasdaq tumbled 1.2 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.4 percent.

In Tokyo trading, oil-related shares were higher with energy firm INPEX surging 4.62 percent to 1,543 yen and oil and gas developer JAPEX jumping 4.45 percent to 2,626 yen.

Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing rose 0.86 percent to 60,350 yen while SoftBank Group slid 0.31 percent to 5,094 yen.

Automakers were lower with Toyota falling 0.48 percent to 2,039.5 yen and Honda slipping 0.15 percent to 3,170 yen. Nissan dropped 1.59 percent to 486.8 yen.

The dollar fetched 129.16 yen against 129.08 yen in New York on Monday.