Tokyo stocks open higher extending Wall Street rallies

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened higher on Friday as investors took heart from Wall Street rallies.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.29 percent, or 343.67 points, at 26,948.51 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 1.06 percent, or 19.95 points, at 1,897.53.

“Japanese shares are starting with gains following US rallies,” which were partly supported by brisk retail sector earnings reports, said senior market analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama of Monex said in a note.

US economic indicators released overnight were not strong, including revised-down first quarter GDP figures and a slide in second-hand home sales in April.

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However, “the run of negative US economic news seems to be taking the sting out of fears the Federal Reserve will be forced to hike aggressively”, Stephen Innes, managing partner of SPI Asset Management, said in a commentary.

The dollar fetched 127.15 yen in early Asian trade, against 127.05 yen in New York late Thursday.

In Tokyo, Daiichi-Sankyo edged up 0.26 percent to 3,471 yen after it said it will proceed with a phase 3 trial of its Covid vaccine during the first quarter of this fiscal year.

Toshiba was up 0.78 percent at 5,709 yen after it said it had added two activist investors to its board.

Nissan was up 0.70 percent at 491 yen while bigger rival Toyota was up 0.84 percent at 2,099.5 yen and Honda was up 1.34 percent at 3,170 yen.

Airlines were higher after the Japanese government announced a large-scale resumption of inbound tourism. ANA Holdings was up 1.55 percent at 2,589 yen and Japan Airlines was up 1.68 percent at 2,364 yen.