TOKYO, Oct 29 ― Tokyo stocks opened higher today tracking rallies on Wall Street, supported by optimism about US-China trade talks and a cheaper yen against the dollar.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.48 per cent or 109.60 points at 22,976.87 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.58 per cent or 9.58 points at 1,658.01.
US President Donald Trump yesterday repeated his confidence that Washington and Beijing are moving towards a partial “phase one” trade deal, which he expects to sign on the sidelines of the Apec summit in Santiago in mid-November.
“We're looking probably to be ahead of schedule to sign very big portion of the China deal, and we will call it phase one,” Trump told reporters.
The comments sent US shares higher with a risk-on sentiment prompting the dollar to edge up against the yen.
In Asia, the dollar fetched ¥108.96 (RM4.18) against ¥108.95 in New York.
“Japanese shares are rising at the start helped by rallies in the US market and a cheaper yen,” Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior market analyst at Okasan Online Securities, said in a commentary.
Among major shares in Tokyo, automakers were higher, with Toyota edging up 0.26 per cent to ¥7,503, Nissan trading up 1.58 per cent at ¥691.4 and Honda up 0.69 percent at ¥2,970.5.
Sony was up 0.92 per cent at ¥6,429 and Panasonic was up 0.26 per cent at ¥915.3.
ANA Holdings was down 1.75 per cent at ¥3,649 after the leading business daily Nikkei reported its operating profit for the first half to September likely dropped by about 20 per cent on-year.
Its rival Japan Airlines was down 0.50 per cent at ¥3,335.
On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 0.5 per cent at 27.090.72. ― AFP
