TOKYO, Dec 9 — Tokyo stocks opened higher today extending rallies on Wall Street after strong jobs data, as investors closely watched key events this week including central bank meetings and the UK elections.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.34 per cent or 79.11 points to 23,433.51 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.36 per cent or 6.11 points at 1,719.47.
Investors are eyeing the two-day US Federal Reserve meeting through Wednesday and the British general election on Thursday, Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.
Traders also remain on edge ahead of December 15 — the day on which the US is due to impose tariffs on more goods from China.
“For the time being, the Nikkei 225 will likely move in a volatile fashion as key events come one after another,” it said.
A partial trade pact with China remains close at hand, a top White House economic aide said Friday, days before another round of US tariffs is due to take effect.
“The deal is still close,” National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told CNBC. “It is probably even a wee bit closer than when I first made that statement in November.”
Kudlow was guarded in discussing the tariff round due to hit around US$160 billion (RM666 billion) in Chinese imports — including popular consumer items like mobile phones — beginning December 15.
“There’s no arbitrary deadline here,” he said, adding that the ultimate decision was Trump’s alone.
Should the December 15 tariffs take effect, virtually all the merchandise the United States imports annually from China will be covered by punitive tariffs.
But the market remained somewhat positive on the prospects of the US-China trade deal, as it “continues to price in peak tariff and a probable rollback of the last tranche of tariffs imposed in September,” Stephen Innes, chief Asia market strategist at AxiTrader, said in a note.
The dollar fetched ¥108.57 (RM4.16) in early Asian trade, against ¥108.56 in New York on Friday.
In Tokyo, some blue-chip exporters were higher, with Sony trading up 1.19 per cent at ¥7,152 and game giant Nintendo up 2.31 per cent at ¥44,770.
Market heavyweight Fast Retailing, operator of clothing giant Uniqlo, was up 0.47 per cent at ¥64,220 and mega bank Mitsubishi UFJ was up 0.43 per cent at ¥587.2.
On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 1.2 per cent at 28,015.06. — AFP
