Tokyo: Stocks close higher as Asian bourses rally

[TOKYO] Tokyo markets closed higher on Monday helped by a relatively cheaper yen against the dollar and rallies in other Asian markets.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.88 per cent or 197.87 points to close at 22,799.64 while the broader Topix index ended up 1.16 per cent or 19.75 points at 1,728.95.

Japanese shares, which opened higher encouraged by gains on Wall Street Friday, "extended gains as China's Shanghai market rose", SBI Securities said in a commentary.

This week, however, investors are likely to remain cautious over developments in the confrontation between the US and China, and ahead of a series of global economic data, analysts said.

The dollar fetched 111.05 yen in late Tokyo hours, down from 111.21 yen in New York late Friday, but was still higher than most of last week.

In individual stock trade, Toyota climbed 1.99 per cent to 6,966 yen after a weekend report by the Nikkei newspaper that the auto giant was planning to build a new factory in China.

Nintendo rose 2.58 per cent to 38,850 yen and Sony gained 1.89 per cent to 6,170 yen.

REUTERS