Tokyo stocks close higher with eyes on earnings

[TOKYO] Tokyo stocks closed higher on Monday after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's latest failure to break the Brexit deadlock, with focus shifting to Japanese corporate earnings season starting this week.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.25 per cent, or 56.22 points, to end at 22,548.90, while the broader Topix index gained 0.41 per cent, or 6.61 points, to 1,628.60.

"Trade started with rallies helped by expectations for Japanese corporate performances, but the upside turned out to be limited because of uncertainties over external factors," Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.

The currency market shrugged off weekend drama in the British parliament when Mr Johnson's EU divorce agreement was met with a vote in favour of an amendment that effectively withholds approval of the deal.

British lawmakers voted to force Mr Johnson to ask the EU for another Brexit delay, hoping to prevent the country crashing out of the bloc on October 31 with no agreement in place.

"There is no Brexit resolution, yet the outlook remains encouraging," Stephen Innes, Asia Pacific market strategist at AxiTrader, said in a commentary.

"The votes in the UK's House of Commons look to have tipped in favour of passing the deal cemented last week with the European Union" despite a failure to approve the hard-fought deal with the EU last week, he added.

However investors remained cautious about the fate of the Brexit deal, stocks analysts said.

Investors gradually took to the sidelines ahead of a public holiday for the new emperor's enthronement proclamation ceremony on Tuesday, analysts added.

Among major shares in Tokyo, Toyota was up 0.43 per cent at 7,400 yen, Panasonic was up 0.72 per cent at 894.6 yen and Takeda Pharmaceutical was up 0.44 per cent at 3,797 yen.

AFP