Tokyo: Stocks open higher, as North Korea, Irma worries ease

[TOKYO] Tokyo stocks opened higher on Tuesday following a market rally on Wall Street on receding worries about North Korea and Hurricane Irma.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.96 per cent, or 188.19 points, to 19,733.96 in early trade while the broader Topix index was up 0.87 per cent, or 14.01 points, at 1,626.27.

US stocks rallied on Monday after Hurricane Irma avoided a worst-case scenario, with the S&P 500 finishing at a fresh record and the Dow rising back above 22,000, to finish at 22,057.37, up 1.2 per cent.

And just less than two hours before the opening bell in Japan, the UN Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea, slapping a ban on textile exports and restricting shipments of oil products to punish Pyongyang for its sixth and largest nuclear test.

"Investors' risk-off attitude receded as there was no worrisome development such as a further North Korean missile launch," said Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities.

The dollar was flat against the yen, fetching 109.42 yen in early Asian trade, against 109.44 yen in New York.

Turning to individual share prices, Japan Post rose 1.57 per cent to 1,341 yen after the government said late Monday it would sell off another chunk of the country's massive postal service in a share listing expected to raise about $12 billion.

Blue-chip exporters were also in the green, with Toyota gaining 1.27 per cent to 6,376 yen, rival Nissan rising 1.18 per cent to 1,112.5 yen and game giant Nintendo up 1.71 per cent to 37,310 yen.

AFP