TOKYO, March 17 ― Tokyo shares rebounded into positive territory in late morning trade today, after opening sharply down following a global rout on fears over the coronavirus pandemic.
The Nikkei 225 index dipped as much as 3.66 per cent at one point in early trade, before recovering to 17,180.90, up 1.05 per cent or 178.86 points, about 70 minutes after the opening bell.
The broader Topix index was up 1.37 per cent or 16.93 points at 1,253.27, after dropping as much as 2.99 per cent.
“Japanese shares are now cheap compared with their dividends,” Rakuten Securities chief strategist Masayuki Kubota said in a note.
The dollar fetched ¥106.84 (RM462.50) in Asian trade, against ¥105.92 in New York late yesterday.
In Tokyo, Sony was up 5.20 per cent at ¥5,926, game giant Nintendo was up 5.52 per cent at ¥34,770, and Toyota was up 2.24 per cent at ¥6,074.
On Wall Street, the Dow plummeted 12.9 per cent to close at 20,188.52. ― AFP
