TOKYO, Japan, Oct 24 – Tokyo stocks opened higher on Tuesday, extending US rallies, with investors gradually shifting focus to the start of Japan’s corporate earnings season.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.45 percent, or 121.19 points, at 27,096.19 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.49 percent, or 9.25 points, at 1,896.44.
“Trade in the Tokyo market will likely lose its sense of direction after starting with gains” following rallies on US and European bourses, SBI Securities said.
With some investors hoping to sell on share price rebounds, “active buying will be difficult ahead of the start of the corporate earnings report season,” it added.
Global markets rose overnight in reaction to news that Britain’s former finance minister Rishi Sunak would become prime minister, and also thanks to optimism about earnings.
The dollar fetched 148.87 yen in early Asian trade, against 148.95 yen in New York late Monday.
Traders say Japan may have again intervened in the currency markets on Monday morning, causing rapid fluctuations in dollar-yen trade, but authorities have refused to confirm whether they took steps to prop up the falling yen.
“Officials are remaining quiet, but it seems clear they are trying to defend the yen before both the (Bank of Japan) meeting later this week,” and ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve policy decision, said Edward Moya, senior market analyst of OANDA.
Toyota was up 0.70 percent at 2,010.5 yen after the world’s top-selling carmaker confirmed the upcoming launch of its second electric car, which could challenge a Tesla model in China.
Electronic parts maker Nidec rallied 4.61 percent to 8,332 yen after it posted a second-quarter earnings report that showed operating profit was largely in line with market expectations.
Takeda Pharmaceutical was up 1.27 percent at 3,757 yen, Sony Group climbed 1.38 percent to 9,747 yen, and Fujitsu was 1.08 percent higher at 16,415 yen.
