Tokyo: Stocks open higher after US gains

[TOKYO] Tokyo stocks opened higher on Thursday, extending a winning streak as risk appetite grows on investor confidence in the US economy.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 0.39 per cent or 88.45 points to 22,882.64 in early trade after four days of gains, while the broader Topix index was up 0.15 per cent or 2.64 points at 1,753.85.

The Nikkei "will rise towards 23,000 on the back of continued rises in US stocks and (dollar) exchange rates in the upper half of the 112 yen band," Okasan Online Securities chief strategist Yoshihiro Ito said in a commentary.

Wall Street advanced on strong US earnings and upbeat comments by the head of the Federal Reserve.

The US dollar held firm on Thursday, changing hands at 112.84 yen against 112.86 yen in New York on Wednesday.

In semiannual congressional testimony on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said US businesses were already being hurt by reciprocal tariffs on key products.

However, he repeated that if President Donald Trump's trade policy resulted in lower tariffs, that would be good for the US economy.

Mr Powell also told a congressional panel on Tuesday that the US central bank remained on track to continue gradually raising interest rates amid solid US economic growth.

In Tokyo stocks trading, air-conditioner makers rose on growing demand as Japan experiences a heat wave. Hitachi rose 1.05 per cent to 801.1 yen and Mitsubishi Electric jumped 2.19 per cent to 1,467 yen.

SoftBank Group fell 0.73 per cent to 9,579 yen and Toyota was down 0.69 per cent to 7,421 yen.

AFP