Tokyo stocks open higher on virus hopes
by AFPTokyo stocks opened higher on Monday on expectations the state of emergency will be lifted for the whole nation including economic powerhouse Tokyo.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.37 percent or 279.75 points at 20,667.91 in early trade, while the broader Topix index advanced 1.16 percent or 17.20 points to 1,495.00.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government is widely expected to lift the state of emergency for Tokyo later in the day, after last week lifting it for the western Osaka region.
Traders are caught between concerns over a second coronavirus wave and US-China tensions on one hand and hopes that lifting the emergency will spur economic recovery in Japan, said Hideyuki Ishiguro, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.
In Tokyo, major shares were higher, with Uniqlo casual wear operator Fast Retailing trading up 1.26 percent at 53,670 yen, Toyota gaining 1.03 percent at 6,354 yen and Sony higher by 0.94 percent at 6,837 yen.
The dollar fetched 107.73 yen in Asian trade, and 107.56 yen in New York on Friday.
On Friday, US stocks finished mostly higher, with the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index leading major indices, gaining 0.4 percent to finish at 9,324.59, an increase of more than 3.4 percent over the week.
The Dow shed less than 0.1 percent to end at 24,465.16, while the broad-based S&P 500 added 0.2 percent at 2,955.45.