TOKYO, June 5 — Tokyo’s key Nikkei index closed at a fresh three-decade high today, with investors encouraged by Wall Street rallies helped by a bumper US jobs report.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended its third straight winning session up 2.20 per cent, or 693.21 points, at 32,217.43, while the broader Topix index added 1.70 per cent, or 37.09 points, to 2,219.79.
The Nikkei last finished above 32,000 in 1990 — shortly before Japan’s “bubble” economy burst, which triggered decades of economic malaise.
Investors cheered sharp gains of US shares on Friday that came on a stronger-than-expected jobs report, as well as fresh data pointing to improvement in China’s service sector.
The passage of a US debt ceiling deal through Congress also eased market fears of a potentially catastrophic default.
Saudi Arabia’s decision to cut oil output and oil prices will be a focus for traders, as “higher oil prices negatively affect Europe and Asia’s big oil importer economies”, Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said.
The dollar fetched ¥140.28 (RM4.58) in Asian trade, against ¥139.97 in New York late Friday.
Fast Retailing, which operates the Uniqlo brand, jumped 3.86 per cent to ¥34,160 and Advantest, which makes semiconductor tests, rose 3.38 per cent to ¥18,330.
Honda jumped 3.21 per cent to ¥4,185 and Toyota gained 0.95 per cent to ¥2,028.5, with SoftBank Group rising 0.85 per cent to ¥6,022.
Tokyo Electron recovered from early losses and gained 0.75 per cent to ¥19,420. — AFP
