TOKYO, May 8 — Tokyo stocks opened higher on Friday tracking rallies on Wall Street, as investors looked beyond grim economic news to focus on easing coronavirus lockdown measures in parts of the US.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.58 per cent or 311.04 points at 19,986.27 in early trade, while the broader Topix index gained 1.27 per cent or 18.18 points to 1,444.91.
“Japanese shares are testing the upside as investor sentiment improved thanks to a rebound in US shares and a slowing in the number of patients infected with coronavirus in Japan,” said Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities.
The dollar fetched ¥106.36 (RM4.33) in early Asian trade, against ¥106.26 in New York.
In Tokyo, blue-chip exporters were generally higher, with Sony advancing 1.27 per cent to ¥6,878, industrial robot maker Fanuc trading up 0.90 per cent at ¥17,435, and chip-testing equipment maker Advantest up 1.56 per cent at ¥5,220.
Nintendo dropped 3.60 per cent to ¥44,440 on profit-taking after the Japanese gaming giant said it had notched up annual net profits of ¥258.6 billion (US$2.4 billion) in the fiscal year to March, a gain of 33 per cent from the year before.
Japan’s household spending in March dropped 6.0 per cent from a year earlier, as the virus slammed spending on leisure activities, clothes, and eating out, according to official data released before the opening bell.
On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 0.9 per cent at 23,875.89. — AFP