Tokyo: Nikkei closes up more than 1.1%

[TOKYO] Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index rallied more than 1.1 per cent Monday on bargain-hunting with investors still optimistic for a new US stimulus package.

The Nikkei 225 index gained 1.11 per cent or 260.50 points to close at 23,671.13, while the broader Topix index rose 1.25 per cent or 20.29 points to 1,637.98.

"Hopes for a new US stimulus package are still sustaining sentiment", while investors bought on dips following two days of declines, said Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities.

In the United States, Democrats and Republicans have been negotiating on another stimulus package, but growing signs that nothing would be approved before next month's election have sent indices lower in recent days.

At the weekend House Speaker Nancy Pelosi set a Tuesday deadline for a pact to be hammered out, while President Donald Trump urged his Republican party to offer more than the US$1.8 trillion they have put forward, adding that he would be willing to go higher than the Democrats' US$2.2 trillion proposal.

China-related shares faced modest pressure after Beijing released figures showing the world's number two economy expanded at a slower rate than expected in July-September.

"But the figures themselves are not so bad at all," Mr Horiuchi said.

The US dollar fetched 105.43 yen in Asian afternoon trade, against 105.40 yen in New York late Friday.

In Tokyo, Sony jumped 2.18 per cent to 7,769 yen after a report said the Japanese electronics giant will supply its micro displays to US titan Apple.

Among other major shares, Toyota rose 1.69 per cent to 6,945 yen, with Nintendo up 0.55 per cent at 58,240 yen.

Japan logged a trade surplus of 675 billion yen (S$8.69 billion) in September, against market expectations of an 854.3 billion yen surplus, official data released by the finance ministry showed 10 minutes before the opening bell.

AFP