TOKYO, Feb 16 ― Tokyo stocks closed sharply higher today, extending Wall Street rallies on easing fears of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended up 2.22 per cent or 595.21 points at 27,460.40, while the broader Topix index gained 1.67 per cent or 31.93 points to 1,946.63.
After Wall Street stocks cheered Russia's announcement that some of its troops on the countries' border had started pulling back, “excess worries over the Ukraine situation eased,” supporting the Tokyo market, Okasan Online Securities said in a note.
Investors were now awaiting a release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve's meeting, due later in the day, for clues of the US central bank's policy direction.
The dollar fetched ¥115.67 in Asian trade, against ¥115.62 in New York late Tuesday.
Among major shares in Tokyo, Sony Group rallied 1.02 per cent to ¥12,335 after announcing the capital expenditure on a joint plant with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing will rise by over ¥100 billion to US$8.6 billion.
Denso, the world's second largest auto parts supplier, also announced it will invest in the plant and its shares rallied 2.59 per cent to ¥8,627.
Shin-Etsu Chemical jumped 2.97 per cent to ¥18,535 after a report said it will boost output capacity of parts for EV batteries.
Kirin Holdings ended up 1.64 per cent at ¥2,010.5 after it said it would sell all stakes in a joint venture in China while keeping the business alliance, including intellectual property licencing, for a soft drinks business in China. ― AFP
