Tokyo: Tokyo stocks rose on Wednesday, helped by a halt in the dollar’s weakness and rallies on Wall Street, though investors were cautious ahead of trade talks between China and the US.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.64 percent or 142.82 points to close at 22,362.55, while the broader Topix index was up 0.77 percent or 12.95 points at 1,698.37.
“As the yen declined further against the dollar, buying sentiment expanded,” said Hikaru Sato, senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities.
“If US shares continue rising, it will benefit Japanese shares,” Sato told AFP.
“But many market participants were on the sidelines” ahead of the US-China trade negotiations.
The dollar fetched 110.37 yen in Asian afternoon trade, against 110.27 yen in New York and 110.02 yen in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Turning to individual shares, commercial vehicle specialist Isuzu Motors jumped 4.50 percent to 1,669 yen after a brokerage firm upgraded its estimate of the firm’s shares.
Telecom shares were mixed a day after Japan’s top government spokesman suggested they should cut costs, prompting stocks in the firms to lose ground.
NTT DoCoMo was lower by 0.60 percent at 2,803 yen and KDDI dropped 1.89 percent to 2,897.5 yen, but SoftBank ended up 1.31 percent at 9,950 yen.
In New York, US stocks rose for a fourth straight session with the S&P 500 hitting a record during the session.
[source_without_link]AFP[/source_without_link]