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Tokyo stocks open higher
TOKYO, Nov 14, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Tokyo stocks opened higher on Wednesday,
rebounding from the previous day’s sharp drops on news of US-China trade
talks and Britain’s announcement of a draft exit deal with the European
Union.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which ended down more than 2.0 percent on
Tuesday, rose 0.51 percent or 111.27 points, to 21,921.79 in early trade
while the broader Topix index was up 0.56 percent or 9.19 points at 1,647.64.
Overnight drops on Wall Street were small, giving investors some relief,
said Makoto Sengoku, market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute.
“Yesterday’s heavy selling (in Tokyo) was partly out of fears that New
York would take another plunge but it didn’t turn out that way,” he told AFP.
Investor sentiment also picked up on London’s announcement of a draft
Brexit deal, he said.
Investors were further cheered by news that US President Donald Trump and
Chinese President Xi Jinping will discuss deteriorating trade relations on
the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit later this month, Sengoku said.
“The worst-case scenario is that the two nations wouldn’t talk, so their
talking is not bad news,” he said, while noting it was too early to buy
actively before seeing real progress.
Financial markets hardly moved on Japanese government data that showed the
world’s third largest economy shrank in the third quarter, as widely
expected, after a string of natural disasters hit consumer spending and
exports.
The dollar edged up to 113.90 yen from 113.82 yen in New York on Tuesday
afternoon.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group jumped 1.81 percent to 678.6 yen after the
major bank announced a large share-buyback scheme.
IT investor SoftBank Group rallied 2.99 percent to 9,200 yen after reports
said it would up its investments in co-working company WeWork.
Reports cited WeWork as saying SoftBank would put $3 billion into the
company.
Petroleum explorer Inpex meanwhile fell 2.22 percent to 1,233 yen on sharp
drops in oil prices.
BSS/AFP/HR/0935