TOKYO, May 10 — Tokyo stocks opened higher today supported by rallies on Wall Street with investors eyeing the pandemic’s impact on the global economy.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.26 per cent, or 76.15 points, at 29,433.97 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.27 per cent, or 5.23 points, at 1,938.28.
“Japanese shares are seen supported by rallies on Wall Street in early trade but there’s no clear sense of direction,” said Okasan Online Securities in a note.
Investors were weighing factors including the impact of the coronavirus on the Indian economy and on the US labour market where vaccinations are allowing the economy to resume activity, it added.
On Friday, major Wall Street indices finished at fresh records after disappointing US jobs data fuelled confidence in continued fiscal and monetary support as the economy recovers from Covid-19.
The dollar fetched 108.57 yen in early Asian trade, against 108.58 yen in New York late Friday.
Japan Airlines was up 0.69 per cent at 2,340 yen after it posted an annual net loss of US$2.6 billion (RM10.6 billion), without releasing a forecast for the current financial year, citing uncertainty around the pandemic.
Olympus was up 0.51 per cent at 2,283.5 yen after it forecast an operating profit of ¥126 billion (US$1.2 billion) for the current fiscal year, slightly higher than analyst estimates of 123.3 billion yen.
Trading house Itochu was up 0.74 per cent at 3,532 yen and Mitsubishi Heavy was up 2.27 per cent at 3,418 yen ahead of their earnings reports due during trading hours later in the day.
Shipping firm Kawasaki Kisen was down 1.04 per cent at 3,345 yen and its rival Nippon Yusen was down 0.55 per cent at 4,535 yen ahead of their earnings reports also expected during today's trading hours.
Panasonic was up 1.73 per cent at 1,291 yen ahead of its earnings release, due after the closing bell.
On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 0.7 per cent at 34,777.76. — AFP
