TOKYO: Tokyo stocks closed higher Thursday as investors took heart from gains on Wall Street, where traders were reassured by a Bank of England intervention that helped push bond yields lower.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.95 percent, or 248.07 points, to close at 26,422.05, while the broader Topix index ended up 0.74 percent, or 13.65 points, to 1,868.80.

The dollar fetched 144.70 yen, against 144.11 yen in New York on Wednesday.

Tokyo investors were encouraged to buy stocks following Wall Street rallies after the Bank of England’s intervention in the British bond market reassured investors.

Following a historic slump in the pound, the BoE announced it was temporarily buying up long-dated UK government bonds “to restore orderly market conditions”.

In both Britain and the United States, the move pressured Treasury bond yields, which had risen sharply as central banks hiked interest rates. This prompted a flow of funds into stocks.

Tokyo shares close lower after Wall Street falls

In Tokyo, share prices have been on a downward trend “since the release of the US CPI (consumer price index)” earlier this month, Resona Bank said in a commentary.

“But it’s time for shares to bottom out,” also for technical reasons, the bank added.

Among major shares in Tokyo, SoftBank Group jumped 1.88 percent to 5,031 yen, Sony Group ended up 0.29 percent to 9,589 yen and Toyota added 0.26 percent to 1,958.5 yen.

Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing jumped 2.17 percent to 79,560 yen.

Comments

Comments are closed.