Tokyo: Stocks open flat

[TOKYO] Tokyo stocks opened flat on Thursday, after an afternoon rally on Wall Street overcame early weakness on fears about an economic slowdown in China.

The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange eased 0.23 points to 20,392.54 at the start.

US stocks spent much of the day in the red due to fears that Beijing's devaluation of the yuan signals that China's economy is weaker than thought. The Dow was down more than 275 points early in the session.

But Apple and energy equities led an afternoon rally, reversing the market's direction.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished essentially flat at 17,402.51, down about one-third of a point.

The broad-based S&P 500 added 1.98 (0.10 per cent) at 2,086.05, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 7.60 (0.15 per cent) to 5,044.39.

Following China's devaluation of the yuan, the dollar advanced against most rival currencies. But it declined Wednesday against the euro, the British pound and the Japanese yen on speculation that the US Federal Reserve will delay hiking interest rates after the China move.

In Tokyo forex trade, the dollar fetched 124.30 yen early Thursday against 124.24 yen in New York late Wednesday.

The euro exchanged hands at US$1.1156 and 138.67 yen compared with US$1.1159 and 138.63 yen in US trade.

AFP