Tokyo stocks open higher after national holiday
Date
12/26/2015 11:13:01 PM
Tokyo:Tokyo stocks opened higher on Thursday following a positive lead from Wall Street and as trading resumed after a national holiday.
US and European bourses jumped on Wednesday as large gains in energy and commodity stocks gave them a pre-Christmas bounce.
The increases came as a surprisingly big decline in US oil inventories lifted crude prices and spurred talk that the market may have bottomed out.
"Stability in US markets should cause Japanese stocks to try to rebound today and tomorrow" Mitsushige Akino executive officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management Co told Bloomberg News.
"Oil's plunge has been driven mostly by a lack of demand making it a reflection of the weak economy. With prices now pulling back after excessive selling that's also helping stocks."
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 0.98 percent or 184.71 points to 19071.41 in opening deals while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares advanced 0.85 percent or 12.96 points to 1546.56.
Investors are now keenly awaiting fresh trading cues from Japanese inflation jobs and spending figures which are scheduled for release on Friday.
In share trading exporters rose despite a stronger yen. The dollar ticked down to 120.86 yen from 120.87 yen Wednesday in New York and from 121.26 yen on Tuesday in Tokyo.
In other currency trading the euro was up fetching $1.0918 and 131.96 yen from $1.0910 and 131.87 yen on Wednesday in US trade.
On Wall Street the Dow closed 1.06 percent higher on Wednesday while the S&P 500 jumped 1.24 percent and the Nasdaq advanced 0.90 percent.
AFP