TOKYO, April 15, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Tokyo stocks opened higher on Monday,
taking heart from rallies in New York and a cheaper yen against the dollar.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 added 1.23 percent, or 269.38 points, to
22,139.94, while the broader Topix index was up 1.31 percent, or 21.03
points, at 1,626.43.
The dollar fetched 112.07 yen in early Asian trade, up from 111.99 yen in
New York late Friday.
“Rallies in US shares and a cheaper yen are seen helping boost Japanese
shares,” Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior market analyst at Monex, said in a
commentary.
Shuji Hosoi, senior market strategist at Daiwa Securities, added that the
focus this week is on Japan-US trade negotiations and a series of Chinese
economic indicators, including first-quarter GDP growth figures due on
Wednesday.
As optimism grows that the United States and China are nearing a trade
deal, Japan kicks off its own negotiations with Washington from Monday.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Japan’s Economy Minister
Toshimitsu Motegi are set to embark on two days of talks in Washington.
The first round of talks will likely focus on the scope of future
negotiations rather than specifics however.
In Tokyo, blue-chip exporters were broadly higher, with Sony gaining 1.24
percent to 5,266 yen, Hitachi adding 2.09 percent to 3,699 yen, Olympus up
2.64 percent at 1.242 yen and Toyota rising 0.73 percent to 6,839 yen.
On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 1.0 percent at 26,412.30.