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Tokyo shares firm ahead of Trump-Kim summit
TOKYO, June 11, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Tokyo stocks rose Monday as investors
awaited a historic US-North Korea summit and central bank meetings of major
economies this week.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 0.48 percent or 109.54 points to
close at 22,804.04 while the broader Topix index rose 0.30 percent or 5.40
points to 1,786.84.
Investors started the day on a weak note, but gradually returned to buying
as the dollar edged up, Okasan Online Securities said in a note to clients.
They were feeling less worried than before about the historic summit
between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on
Tuesday, according to the brokerage.
“Speculation that the meeting would proceed with no major problem was
encouraging buying,” Okasan said.
“After zigzagging around the previous day’s close, the market floated into
the positive territory but later lost a sense of direction ahead of major
events,” Okasan added of the morning session.
“In the afternoon session, the dollar turned stronger and encouraged
futures contracts to rise and the overall market headed north.”
The dollar fetched 109.99 yen in afternoon Asian trade, against 109.48 yen
in New York late Friday.
Players were still unwilling to go aggressively on buy orders ahead of a
barrage of major events, including policy meetings of the US Federal Reserve,
the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan, the brokerage said.
The market expects the Federal Reserve to hike rates as the US economy
stays solid.
Among major winners, SoftBank rose 1.65 percent to 8,143 yen, while Honda
also added 1.65 percent to 3,575 yen.
Sony gained 1.08 percent to 5,509.
Toyota edged up 0.16 percent to 7,492, while Nintendo added 0.12 percent
to 41,640.
BSS/AFP/HR/1350