Tokyo: Stocks close higher amid caution over earnings

[TOKYO] Tokyo stocks closed higher on Thursday, taking a positive lead from Wall Street, but investors remained cautious amid a Japanese corporate earnings season.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.39 per cent or 88.30 points to 22,497.18, while the broader Topix index was up 0.27 per cent or 4.71 points at 1,777.62.

"Trading is seen concentrating on individual shares amid the ongoing earnings report season," SBI Securities said in a commentary.

The news that Israel had hit dozens of Iranian military targets in Syria following US President Donald Trump's decision to leave the Iran nuclear deal "didn't move the Tokyo market", Takebe Rikiya, forex strategist at Okasan Online Securities, said in a commentary.

The dollar edged up to 109.83 on Thursday from 109.72 yen in New York late Wednesday.

In Tokyo, petroleum-linked shares enjoyed a strong session after Mr Trump's decision to exit the Iran nuclear deal.

Inpex jumped 3.35 per cent to 1,449 yen and JXTG holdings gained 1.38 per cent to 719.2.

SoftBank fell 2.33 per cent to 8,355 yen despite the company announcing a record operating profit for the past fiscal year.

Analysts say the firm's complex structure makes its earnings difficult to interpret, though the results were in line with expectations.

Toyota rallied 2.26 per cent to 7,592 yen as buying sentiment remained strong after the firm announced a record annual net profit.

Carbon fibre manufacturer Toray dropped 5.16 per cent to 9,430 yen after its full-year profit forecast announced on Wednesday was below market expectations.

AFP