TOKYO, March 29 — Tokyo stocks closed higher today, as investors took heart from rallies on Wall Street and a relatively cheap yen against the dollar with their eyes on US-China trade talks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended up 0.82 per cent or 172.05 points to 21,205.81. Over the week, the index lost 1.94 per cent.
The broader Topix index was up 0.56 per cent or 8.79 points to end at 1,591.64, but over the weekend it lost 1.57 per cent.
“The rallies in US shares and a relatively cheaper yen is helping the Tokyo market,” Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities, said in a commentary.
Attention is on Beijing where top Chinese and US negotiators are taking part in their latest batch of talks aimed at ending their long-running trade row that has dragged on the world economy.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the negotiations were not “time dependent” and could be extended, adding they could take weeks or months to get a final deal.
Ito said the US-China negotiations “won’t be helpful to push up share prices further unless the talks generate something tangible.”
The dollar fetched ¥110.73 (RM4.09) in Asian trade, up from ¥110.62 in New York and ¥110.13 in Tokyo yesterday.
Wall Street stocks rose yesterday following a recovery in 10-year US Treasury yields, after weakness in bond rates in recent sessions raised worries about slowing economic growth.
Japan’s closely watched factory output rose modestly in February with unemployment staying at record low levels, official data showed today before the opening bell, underscoring the patchy recovery of the world’s third largest economy.
In Tokyo, some blue-chip exporters were higher, with Hitachi closing up 1.24 per cent at ¥3,585, electronic parts maker Kyocera ending up 0.96 per cent at ¥6,500 and camera maker Nikon up 1.36 per cent at ¥1,561.
Pharmaceuticals firm Daiichi Sankyo surged 16 per cent to the day’s limit of ¥5,100, after it announced a tie-up with AstraZeneca for development of a cancer drug. The deal could be worth as much as US$6.9 billion (RM28.1 billion), a statement from Daiichi Sankyo said. — AFP
