The Business Times

Tokyo: Stocks make moderate gains

Published Fri, Feb 23, 2018 · 07:09 AM
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[TOKYO] Tokyo stocks rose moderately on Friday, with investor sentiment propped up by a rebound on Wall Street as the market regained stability.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.72 per cent or 156.34 points to close at 21,892.78. Over the week, it rose 0.79 per cent.

The broader Topix index was up 0.82 per cent, or 14.36 points, at 1,760.53, leaving it up 1.33 per cent over the week.

"The market is settling, which boosted buying sentiment," said Hikaru Sato, senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities.

"But it may take more time to see full recovery as trading of large capital stocks is still stagnant," Mr Sato said.

Tokyo shares opened higher after Wall Street stocks finished mostly higher, with worries about increased interest rates ebbing somewhat.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average led the major indices, jumping 0.7 per cent.

"US stocks were stronger, which provided support to the Tokyo market," said Makoto Sengoku, market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Centre.

"It was mainly foreign investors who triggered substantial falls (earlier in the month). How much the Tokyo market will rebound depends on how much they will buy back," he told AFP.

The US dollar stayed below 107 yen on Friday, trading at 106.92 yen against 106.74 yen in New York on Thursday.

In Tokyo trade, banks were higher with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial rising 0.1 per cent to 765.4 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial up 0.59 per cent at 4,713 yen.

Toyota rose 0.66 per cent to 7,283 yen while Honda gained 0.99 per cent to 3,845 yen following news reports that it delivered 43 small business jets in 2017, ranking top globally in the category.

AFP

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